A New Life
by The Ethereal Lord
Summary: After a shocking discovery during his battle with Kaguya, Naruto gets transported into the DC universe with an unlikely companion in tow. Now he has to adapt to a world of caped heroes and villains, one of whom he may even know...
1. Chapter 1

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 1**_

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

I always wanted to be taken to a whole new world, ever since my imagination could think of it. In fact, it was my favorite thing to imagine whenever the matron of the orphanage kicked me out early in the mornings or left me huddled up in the drafty corridor of the orphanage at night.

In all my imaginations, I never thought I'd appear in a war torn world.

Guess that's why one is called reality and the other, dreams.

Now, standing on the roof of this ridiculously tall building with a huge ball jutting out of its top and the cloaked body of my white haired companion in my arms, I survey the city around me.

The nighttime sky, usually (at least, I believe it should usually be) dotted with stars is a mess. Great rings of crimson light are strung haphazardly across the sky and from these rings, (portals, if my battle with Kaguya taught me right) winged beings stream out. They chatter madly as they fly around, these demonic looking creatures, and they snatch up people from the ground below while destroying all that lies in their path.

The ground is even more of a mess with these demons zipping about at incredible speeds, their destructive exploits continuing,

To my far left, I see the wide expanse of a water body. An ocean, I believe. The worst of the demon horde pours out from a mechanical device, at least ten miles wide.

Another portal.

Amidst the maddening chaos and carnage, I see even more bizarre things.

A man, dressed in skintight blue apparel with a yellow symbol on his chest and a long haori... No. A cape. A red cape stretches out of his back as he flies at speeds greater than anything old man Ōnoki ever flew at. His fists pummel the demons into the dirt, into buildings and right back into hordes of more demons.

A woman, in clothing even MORE revealing than Anko's (really? A bustier and underwear topped off with knee high boots? Didn't she think of protection?), zipped about, a bit lower than the blue dude, her sword slashing and her shield bashing the demons into submission.

A man, again in skintight clothing, red this time, with a hooded white cape, flew about, fists wreathed in lightning as he unleashed a barrage of raiton jutsu on the demons. My eyes narrow as I watch him. No... Those aren't the controlled effects of raiton ninjutsu, those are uncontrolled bursts of lightning.

Two more fly around, one in green and black clothing, that creates and manipulates a strange green light to wreak destruction on the demons. The second seems like an odd fusion of an automaton and a human, its arms changing to create objects that blast light at the demons. Normally I'd wonder about that but it seems to work.

Oh well.

On the ground, I spot a couple more figures.

The first, in a crimson bodysuit like the others, zooms around at speeds rivaling Gai-sensei with the sixth gate open. At that speed, every demon he touches is instantly hurled back, splattering across whatever surface they impact. A second, in a yellow suit, moves at considerably slower speed, though greater than anything even elite jōnin can move at, zips about, moving trapped civilians to safer locations.

A man in a gray suit with a black cloak fights with swift, precise and unhesitating brutality, dealing swift attacks to the demons' pressure points while flinging black objects- my sharingan slows them down enough for me to note the vaguely bat-like semblance of these weapons- with unerring accuracy at the further demons.

Further down the street a boy in a red, green and yellow (and people complained about MY orange tracksuit) suit work together with the man to protect an ever growing mass of people. Another female, no two older women join them, one a blonde unleashes a scream that would make Sakura proud (and had the side effect of rupturing the demons ear drums, judging by the blood streaming down their ears) while the other, a brunette or maybe a raven haired woman in a purple, non-protective but definitely flattering, outfit shoots arrows expertly from a small projectile device.

So, the good guys are in the funny outfits and the demons are the bad guys.

Nice to know.

I walk to the base of the huge sphere and lay her down, brushing her lustrous hair away from her face.

 _'It may seem strange but she isn't in control of her actions. And she hasn't been for centuries.'_

 _ **'Protect her brat. Now that we've freed her, she'll need a friend and I trust no one else but you.'**_

The parting words of my friends, one of whom nearly killed me and the other who was either trying to take over my body or acting like a snarly bastard when he wasn't doing the first.

My best friends.

Suddenly, I feel an abrupt change in the tone of the battle.

A quick glance around confirmed what I could feel.

The defenders, going strong a few minutes ago, seemed to exude an aura of disbelief and discouragement. The demon invaders, on the other hand, were filled with a new hope and frenzied strength.

A few seconds of quick analysis showed the sources of both.

The man in blue, clearly one of the most powerful forces on the defenders side, was being towed away amidst a horde of demons.

As for the invaders, well, their sudden gain of frenzied strength was something I had seen before.

During the War, the Zetsus had exhibited such strength when Madara finally showed up on the battle scene. Their ace had shown up and they were assured of overwhelming victory.

As my eyes flicker over to the ocean, I know I'm right.

He is huge, at least half the size of the Gedō Mazō, with skin like cracked rocks, wearing blue and silver armor and his eyes glow malevolent red.

The demons' ace, and possibly their leader.

While the grounded heroes battle the demons, their flying partners rush forward, cutting a swathe through the demons on a straight path toward Rocky.

They might as well have charged a metal wall.

In fact, charging a metal wall would have been better. At least, it wouldn't have blasted them back with minimum effort.

Rocky must be immensely powerful judging by how he sends the sword welding woman through three buildings with what amounts to a casual slap and disdainfully snaps the green guy's arm.

And THEN he unleashes the eye blasts.

How the energy can curve around objects, I don't know but it does, relentlessly hunting down each defender.

The defenders are outclassed. Simple. They need an ace of their own.

I turn to the woman I'd laid on the structure beneath me and activate my Mangekyō Sharingan. One _Kamui_ later, she's safely tucked away in an alternate dimension of my own.

I turn back to the War, my chakra cloak wrapping me in its comforting warmth, in the back of my mind, I feel the Truth Seeking Orbs connect with me, waiting on the slightest of commands to act and I feel my senses explode outward. I lock on to Rocky.

Time to be a hero.

Again.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

Diana Prince, known to the world as Wonder Woman, ambassador to the Amazon nation of Themiscyra, was not having a good day.

So far, she'd been slashed, smacked and now smashed through buildings.

Not a good day at all.

Flying through the falling debris, she charged at the hulking behemoth, intent on getting in a few good strikes before being flung back again, when the ground was suddenly bathed in a blinding flash of yellow light.

Later, when she had time to go over the battle in earnest, she would realize that it wasn't one huge flash but thousands of smaller ones all happening within nanoseconds of each other.

She didn't know where it came from but the results were clear: all the parademons, as the cyborg called them, on the ground were dead.

Then, something even more baffling happened.

The flashes of light appeared again around Darkside, again the name was provided by the cyborg, before it was sent stumbling back by a massive punch to the chin. Then, two glowing yellow beings, about the same size and stature as a young man, chanted something magical.

One spat out a humongous dragon of water, the other, a beam of electricity so thick it was like a pipe.

Both combined into one attack that smashed into Darkside with the force of a freight train.

'I don't know who he is but I'm joining the attack.' Her earpiece buzzed with the voice of one of her fellow defenders, she wasn't sure which.

They were right though. These strange men had just provided the opening they needed.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

I know I was powerful before, when I had the power of Asura, son of the Rikudō Sennin but now that Sasuke's given me the power of Indra and Kurama has siphoned off the power of the Jūbi... I feel awesome. Like I can take on the world.

Since I'm not Madara, though, I'll settle for crushing Rocky.

Also: I did not expect the Rinne-Sharingan to be a hive mind. I mean, somehow, even though I'm no longer in the Elemental Nations, I know have a complete library of every jutsu ever seen by a sharingan.

I don't exactly like it but I must admit that it has come in very handy.

Flashing from point to point, sometimes switching with my clone (I'm limiting myself to only one clone for now), fingers weaving handseal after handseal, I rain down a hail of chakra empowered attacks on Rocky,

The few tines he's been able to let off those destructive eye blasts of his, I simply switch with my clone. Since its basically me, whatever tracking methods the blasts use are nullified.

My clone has turned it into a bit of a sport to see how many demons he can destroy by leading the blasts on a merry chase. Record's probably around sixty now.

He's roaring his indignation again, Rocky is, probably saying something in some kind of language.

I don't give a shit and I'm not in the mood to listen to him roar so I feed him a mouthful of Dōryūdan. He seems to like it.

The others are more active now that they have room to breathe. The ground troops have cleared most of the civilians away since the bit of reprieve I gave them and the flyers have taken to guerrilla tactics.

They adapt quite quickly, I must say.

Abruptly, my vision is filled with a large, rocky image.

I may consider the damn thing a cheat but the sharingan is still one hell of a tool.

It slows down perception just long enough for my brain to respond to the new threat and, a millisecond later, I'm just above the image. Rocky's hand, it turns out.

My clone appears beside me in a flash, hands already weaving the seals to support the jutsu I'm about to unleash.

"Katon: Nezumi Kidama!"

"Fūton: Atsugai!"

The Mouse Hairball, a technique exclusive to the Nibi, explodes violently against Rocky's chest and the Pressure Damage turns it into a flaming blue tornado of death.

And, tough bastard that he is, Rocky's still up.

Princess Sword-and-Shield flies into his disoriented face and plunges her blade, hilt deep, into his eye right before he backhands her.

I'm behind her an instant later, steadying her and smiling my appreciation for her decisive blow.

She nods to me, gratitude for stopping her plowing flight, I guess.

No problem.

I focus on Rocky who, with one bleeding eye shut tight, is still holding off the rest of the flyers and I know I have to get back.

After taking a second to ensure that the Princess (she has to be one. Only Koyuki could hold herself with the same dignified grace this woman has) is steady, I flash back to deliver a double fisted punch to Rocky's gut.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

Barry Allen, A.K.A The Flash, was stunned. And, considering the fact that he'd been in the hero game for over six years now, that was saying something.

When the invasion started, he'd been busy with Central City, himself and Wally doing all they could to stop the parademons. It had helped that some of his rogues had decided to step up and fight.

In the words of Killer Frost, as she sliced a parademon in half; _This is my city too, Speedy. Only us humans are allowed to run rampart and cause so much chaos._

And, while he didn't particularly like her motives, he had to admit that she was doing a great job of helping.

So, when the Batman's call came in, himself and Kid Flash zoomed over to Metropolis.

Things had been going... Well, things had been going okay until Darkside showed up, Superman got captured and even MORE parademons poured out of the portals.

Then, **he** showed up.

First, he'd zipped around from parademon to parademon, slicing them with twin obsidian staves, freeing up the ground for the ground based defenders. All in less than half a second. Then, he'd taken the fight to big baddie who had been, up to that moment, ripping apart the aerial defenders.

This guy, wreathed in ethereal flame-like energy that formed into a coat and haloed by ten spheres of light absorbing black, had unleashed a furious flurry of devastating attacks on Darkside that, while having no visible effect, had given Wonder Woman a shot at blinding one of the tyrant's eyes.

After a quick lull in the fight, the stranger was ready to go again.

-Flash!- Black Canary's voice buzzed in his ear. -We've got a building on Sixth and Madison about to collapse!-

"On it!"

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

I did not know he could blast those damned laser of his through his hands. If I did, I'd never have grabbed onto his hand to stop him from punching White-Hood. Kami knows the lightning wielding guy could have taken it.

Oh well, here I am, flying through buildings, wondering exactly what to do to put Rocky down for good when I feel another change in the battle.

The defenders are strengthening, growing more and more confident in their chances of winning.

I zip over to the building I'd first landed on, chakra cloak shutting off instantly.

Turning back to the battle, I see Rocky get punted upward from a powerful blow. Looks like Man in Blue is finally back.

The rest of the defenders are gathered around the half human automaton and the man in gray suit. They must be planning something as I notice multiple heads nodding.

Time to get back into the fray, I decide, and I zip over a couple of miles to hover right about a kilometer over Rocky's head.

He's barely a speck down below but I lock onto his energy signature. He's tanked most of the attacks we've hit him with bar the shots to his eyes so I think it's time to kick things up a notch. Focusing on the hazy not-quite-memory resting in my head, I follow my instinct and feel the chakra flow in the precise order I want it to. Extending my hand downward, I call upon the gravitational manipulation the Rinnegan grants me.

"Banshō Tennin!"

I ready myself for stage two of my plan as Rocky is torn off the ground and hurtles toward me.

Just before he hits, I reverse the gravitational pull.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Instantly, he's sent streaking back down.

With little more than a thought, I'm directly in his flight path, right hand cocked back as he approaches.

Three.

Two.

One.

"Wakusei Rasengan!"

The humongous Rasengan in the center grinds into his chestplate as the revolving orbs grind at his shoulders and groin.

For the third time in as many minutes, he's sent flying up.

In an excellent show of adaptive teamwork, the green suited man binds Rocky's arms to his body just in time for the Princess and Big Blue Wonderboy to deliver twin punches to his back, sending him streaking down again.

White-Hood calls down a pillar of lightning as wide as I am tall that smashes into Rocky. Then, a portal opens up behind him, gradually dragging him in.

It's a slow process though, and Half-Automaton Man, who seems to be powering the portal, is tiring.

The blonde woman's screams, the exploding projectiles, punches and other tricks don't seem to do any damage.

Another Rasengan forms in my hand.

I race across, weaving my way around people and objects until I'm right in front of him. I see his single remaining eye widen in shock.

Good. That's the exact reaction I want.

"Ōdama Rasengan, bitch!"

I allow the Rasengan to grind against his nose a bit before letting it explode.

Simultaneously, the Princess slams a double footed kick into his forehead, pulling out her sword on the rebound, just as Big Blue Wonderboy plows a right straight Baa-chan would be proud of right beside the Princess' kick.

He loses his grip and is sent hurtling into the portal a millisecond before Half Automaton Man collapses, shutting the portal off.

Amidst their celebration and cheers, I flash away, landing on the roof in my regular clothes.

Now that the world is safe again, all I have to worry about is precisely how we are going to survive in this world.

I feel each of their signatures, first coming together, to discuss, I guess, before they depart, each going their own way.

Then, the man in the gray suit lands about four feet away from me.

"It's a nice night to watch the stars." He states simply.

I'm not even remotely surprised that one of them found me or is trying to figure out my intentions. I'm a shinobi. I'm paid, well, I was paid to be suspicious.

I'm more surprised that he speaks my language. "Indeed it is. Makes you appreciate surviving extinction."

"Glad to know that you understand me."

"It's nice to know that someone understands me." I shrug. "So, may I ask for your name?"

"Batman." He replies and I end up snorting in laughter. I should have realized from the whole bat-theme he had going on.

I don't hesitate to tell him why I'm laughing.

He's probably heard it a million times, if his blank facial expressions mean anything.

"I have two questions."

I shrug, not promising anything but he takes it as a go ahead.

"First one: who are you?"

I'm tempted to pull a Jiraiya on him and crank out the toads for an epic introduction.

But I've pegged this guy. My experience with Sasuke has scarred me with the unfortunate ability to spot out emos from a mile away. And this guy is a prime sample of what emos aspire to be.

So yeah, if I pull out the toads, he's going to consider me some kind of idiot. Contrary to popular opinion, I did hear every 'dumb blond' joke Kiba used behind mine and Ino's backs.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"You're Japanese?" He asks.

"Unfortunately, I don't even know what the term 'Japanese' means." I answer. "Doubtful that I am one."

"Interesting..." He murmurs.

While he thinks, I walk over to the edge of the rooftop and look down. People are beginning to crawl out of their hidey-holes, in the throes of shock, while the emergency services begin their work, clearing the rubble off the streets and setting up tents to attend to the people.

"My second question-"

"You already asked." I cut in. I can't help the tiny smirk tugging the corner of my lips. "You said you had two questions and the second, I believe, was if I was Japanese, to which I replied in the negative."

Kami, I definitely owe Baa-chan for putting me through those diplomatic relations classes. Everything from learning the right, just barely bored tone of voice to be used while negotiating to how to spot loopholes in statements were drilled into my head via kage bunshin training.

I may never have used it back home but I sure as hell would try it out here.

Surprisingly, he simply nods and apologizes for his error. "I have that one question left."

Again, I give him the noncommittal shrug.

Again, he takes it as a go-ahead.

"How and why did you help us in the war?"

"Technically, that's two questions not one." I turn to look him right in the eye. I know that whatever my words say, he'll be searching for verification and one of the first things you learn in the shinobi academy is that you can tell when most people are lying by looking into their eyes for tells. Only the most elite of jōnin or the most specialized infiltration experts could hide their intent from their eyes.

"I helped because it's in my nature to do so. I can't stand watching people suffer and I truly despise tyrannical bastards who believe they can enslave others to their own will. I've got a female companion who's currently… indisposed. We both got dragged into this world without our knowledge."

I watch as he studies me intently and, for the briefest of moments, his eyes wander over my body.

I can tell that he's looking for tells, small almost instinctive actions the body performs in given situations.

Two seconds later, he nods. "Alright. Do you have a place to stay?"

"Unfortunately not." I answer honestly. "It's one of the things that's been a bit of a bother to me."

"Alright then. Can you fly?"

"Yeah but I'm like a beacon when I do." I shrug. "Not the best for stealth, I'm afraid."

"Don't worry about that, then." He replies. A few seconds later, a rope ladder descends from the sky. Extending my senses upwards, I feel a large... object hovering over us, its body giving off a very low hum.

"Please follow me. I have a few drop off points you can use until I can set you up somewhere." He states as he begins to climb.

I climb after him.

At the top, I find myself in a small space. After adjusting myself into a comfortable position, I watch as he operates various switches and knobs. Not two seconds later, I feel the vehicle we are in lurch forward at an incredible speed.

"This is an interesting vehicle." I comment, watching the lights of the city fly by.

"It's a personal favorite of mine."

I nod. "I have a favor to ask. I need to learn the language of this world and its cultures."

"That shouldn't pose a problem."

"Thank you."

 **Line** **-~ ~-** **Break**

 _ **Two Weeks Later**_

 _ **Hall of Justice; Mount Justice**_

 _ **Few Miles away from Happy**_ _ **Harbor**_ _ **Coast**_

"Sorry I'm late." Superman apologized as he flew into the Hall. "Perry held me back for a last minute assignment change."

"Pain's of having an alter-ego that actually has to work." The Flash shrugged between munches of Doritos. "Want one?"

"No thanks." The Man of Steel declined. "So, what have I missed?"

"Nothing." Batman stated from his seat. "Now that we're here, we can begin. Cyborg?"

Right on cue, the fluorescent lights in the room dimmed as a crimson beam of light shot out of Cyborg's head and windows opened up.

Seated around the table were Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, Green Lantern, Batman and The Huntress while Green Arrow, Shazam, Aquaman, Black Canary and Supergirl were linked in via holo-vid.

"All set."

"Excellent." Batman stood to address everyone. "Let's begin with the state of affairs in your respective cities since the War."

"Themyscira was attacked but stood victorious and life is gradually returning to the norm."

"A similar attempt was made on Atlantis but everything is fine."

Such positive news was reported everywhere, from Central City to Star City, National City, Coast City and Blüdhaven.

"Alright then." Batman sat down.

"Question." Shazam spoke up. A slight nod from the Dark Knight had him continuing. "Cyborg, you're the one with Apokoliptian tech grafted on and I'm certain you've spent time analyzing how it works so I will be direct: what are the chances of this ever happening again?"

The dark skinned mecha-human sighed. "While there chances that they will attempt an invasion attempt again, I don't know how high or low said chances are."

"The chances will be high." Green Lantern stated bluntly. "I've seen races like this before. They will attempt to invade again for three main reasons: first being for whatever reason they attempted this in the first place, second being that we defeated them, something no tyrannical race ever takes lying down."

"And the third?" Superman asked.

"We severely wounded their leader." The Lantern grimaced. "Smart money says they're already upping their tech and seeking ways to lock Cyborg out of their systems."

"And this is resting solely on the belief that the next invasion attempt will be by the Apokoliptians." Supergirl stated. "For all we know, any one of the tyrannical races GL just implied could be prepping right now to attack us."

"And we have no way to spot an incoming armada." Canary muttered.

"Actually, Cyborg and I have been working on something." Batman said before turning to him. "Bring up project WATCHTOWER."

The holo-vid windows shifted to a side as a three-dimensional image popped up.

"This is project WATCHTOWER, a state of the art orbital platform." Batman explained. "A personal project of mine before the War, I have since worked extensively to include reverse-engineered Apokoliptian tech into the design."

"Damn…" The Flash whistled softly as he watched the image rotate slowly. "How are we going to build it?"

"Certain contacts of mine around the world are building individual components now but myself, Superman, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Shazam and Cyborg will assemble it in space."

"While I'm certain it will have cutting edge tech and will become our new meeting point, I'm wondering how us non-space farers will get up there." Green Arrow asked.

"I've already begun calculations and modifications on how to use the boom tube to lock onto each of our energy signatures and teleport us up there automatically."

"All figured out then." The Star City hero nodded. "The rest of us will offer assistance as is required."

"Anymore questions?" Batman asked.

"One." Wonder Woman stated, having remained silent since speaking of Themyscira's state of affairs. "What do we know of the man who assisted us in the War."

"Cyborg, pull up the data file I sent to you prior to this meeting." The words of the Dark Knight had everyone's eyes locking on him.

A few seconds later, the WATCHTOWER was replaced by two portraits, one a blond male and the other a white haired female.

"These are Uzumaki Naruto and Princess Ōtsusuki Kaguya, aged 19 and 18 respectively. According to the Princess, she was the leader of a powerful clan with Naruto as her bodyguard in another dimension. An evil entity took over her mind and led her to turn on her people which in turn lead to her having to battle Naruto. During the battle, Naruto was able to root out the malevolent force but they were, as a result, blasted into the rift between dimensions."

"So how did they get here?" Shazam asked.

"They must have gotten pulled here by the boom tube's distortion of space." Cyborg theorized. "My guess is that they somehow were pushed into a hibernation state until they were dragged here."

"So, they have the same powers?"

Batman shook his head. "We only saw Naruto fight. He had Kaguya hidden away somehow."

"Damn." Supergirl whistled. "So, precisely how powerful is this guy?"

"No clue." Flash shrugged before sitting up, his voice tensing up to show how serious he was. "But he's fast. Probably just beneath light speed. The thing that caught my attention, though, was the fact that he moved differently."

Only the Scarlet Speedster caught the narrowing of Batman and Wonder Woman's eyes. "Explain."

He just barely stopped himself from swallowing nervously. "I move by empowering myself through the Speed force, allowing me to do the things I can. Naruto, though, from what I saw, seems to... I dunno, teleport between locations. When he annihilated the parademons, I noticed that he simply appeared by each target's side, only reappearing in between spaces when the targets got too far."

"Maybe he bends space around himself?" Shazam suggested. "I saw it on TV once, a guy who could move between spots by warping the distance between himself and his target, making it so short that he could just walk across. But he had a limit."

"You could be on to something there..." Cyborg agreed.

"Beyond speed, though, he still has a bunch of other abilities." Canary said.

Huntress nodded. "Replication, tornadoes of blue fire, pillars of lightning..."

"A fricking water dragon, if you would believe it." Shazam added.

"As well as the blue energy ball and what felt like gravity manipulation." Superman finished.

"That's an almost ridiculously broad, not to mention dangerous power set." Supergirl frowned.

"Particularly when one adds in the fact that he's a trained killer." Wonder Woman stated tersely.

The room was engulfed in graveyard silence.

"Um, no offense, Princess, but the odds are quite heavy that we all killed." Flash finally broke the quiet. "So can you please explain that statement."

The Amazonian Warrior nodded. "To begin with, Flash, you must understand that the act of killing does not make one a trained killer. That Superman shattered skulls with his punches doesn't make him a trained killer.

I, on the other hand, have been trained in various fighting forms including ways to kill. As such, I recognize those forms or the effects of such."

She paused her to turn to Cyborg. "Please bring up the first few seconds of Uzumaki's entry into the battle."

A few seconds later, the requested video appeared on the holo-vid.

"Now freeze the frame and, wiping out Uzumaki, highlight the areas on the parademons hit by his staves."

The video froze, showing for a few seconds, multiple, bijū cloaked Narutos before they vanished, leaving only the bodies of the parademons and the glowing red areas the blond had hit.

"Find the pattern." Wonder Woman said cryptically.

Of course, being the fastest man alive coupled with his day job, Flash was the first to notice it.

"The attacks hit one of eight areas. Using human anatomy as the base reference, he targeted the jugular vein, carotid artery, heart, lungs-"

"The kill spots."

It was not so much the fact of what was said that stunned Supergirl but the ones who had chorused it.

Batman, Black Canary, Green Arrow and Huntress. The four most dangerous people in attendance as far as she was concerned.

Yes, herself and her cousin were so much more powerful than almost anyone else on the planet. Were a fight to break out for some ill contrived reason, she was certain that Clark, Diana and herself would easily come out on top.

Yet she also knew, without a shadow of doubt, that were they to lose their powers for one reason or the other only the four, and the Amazonian Princess, would make it out.

Upon snapping out of her split second mind-wandering, she asked; "Can we get an explanation?"

Canary answered: "The kill spots are locations on the body that, when stabbed or sliced open, will lead to an almost instant death."

"And Uzumaki Naruto, an off worlder who clearly is no slouch in the power department, not only knows them but targeted them on vaguely humanoid creatures." Aquaman frowned.

"So, what do we do about him?" Cyborg asked.

 **Line** **-~ ~-** **Break**

Thirty minutes later, the fluorescent lights were back on showing that most of the meeting's attendees had left.

Seated around the table now were The Flash, Wonder Woman, Batman, Cyborg and, via holo-vid, Aquaman and Black Canary.

"Any news on the lead I gave you, Princess?" Batman asked.

"Nothing, unfortunately." She frowned. "I was close but I lost them because of the War."

"Same here Batman." Flash stated in response to the as-yet unasked question. "I swear, I was _this_ close to getting my man when the portals opened."

Wonder Woman nodded. "That's exactly how it happened on Themyscira. It was almost like they knew I was tailing them and used the initiation of the invasion as a distraction."

"Like they had some foreknowledge of the invasion." Batman steepled his fingers and sat forward. "I'll factor this into my observations of their group. Cyborg, how far have you gone on their money trails?"

"Their encryption is very powerful however I'm certain I'll have their monetary network cracked in two days. Tops."

"Then we can go round up some baddies."

The Scarlet Speedster's grin was cut short by the Dark Knight's next word: No.

"That doesn't make any sense, Batman." The Atlantean King rejoined. "They've got influence reaching from Atlantis to Themyscira and more. We need to shut them down before their network grows."

"While you aren't wrong, Aquaman, there are two problems here. First, we don't know precisely _how deeply_ they're entrenched in our society. For all we know, world leaders could be in league with them.

"The second reason is tied to the first: we have no idea how powerful they are and as such don't know how the possible repercussions of exposing them. For all we know we could expose them now and be crucified by media around the world. Senator June Finch is already of the strong opinion that we triggered the War on purpose as a sort of stunt to gain popularity. It may not make sense now but if we ever get crucified by the media she'll definitely bring this back up, further damaging any credibility we have."

The hall went quiet as the occupants thought over the Bat-themed hero's words.

"I think we've waited patiently long enough." Canary stated drolly. "Let's have your brilliant idea Bats."

The subtle glare directed the way of the blonde heroine would have had lesser mortals shivering. "We need to watch these guys covertly, learn everything we can about them and gather our evidence." At this point, he paused to slide a wafer thin memory stick to Cyborg who instantly downloaded the contents and displayed them.

The Flash whistled as he scanned the information for the tenth time since it was displayed. "A task force consisting of our partners?"

"And a few more." Aquaman added.

"Mind giving us a rundown on them?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Robin, one of my partners in Gotham. He's been chomping at the bit to be let out on his own, a desire that was recently reinforced when he met candidate two; codenamed Raven, a highly skilled magic user, who's most likely an off-worlder. Next is M'gann M'orzz, no codename, related to Martian Manhunter. Then we have Kid Flash, Kaldur'ahm, Aquaman's student and Donna Troy, an Amazonian who has something of a vendetta against our mystery group."

"And the reason you cunningly avoided sharing your opinion a few minutes ago." Canary smirked. "You already knew exactly what you wanted."

"But is this a wise decision?" Aquaman asked. "Having them on what amounts to an experimental team?"

"It's actually a very sane decision." Wonder Woman replied, having mused over the choices for this Black Ops unit. "Not only will this foster the kind of cohesion as a team that even we still lack but it will prepare them in case of a worst case scenario where we are all MIA. As for their inclusion, this provides an excellent avenue for us to monitor them without running the risk of offending them."

"How so?" Cyborg asked. "Won't they know we're watching?"

"They will." Flash nodded. "But things are much easier when both parties know that right from the onset. Sure, we run the risk that they'll hide things from us but it's a risk we have to take in extending the olive branch.""

Nods from everyone showed that the Speedster was on the right track.

"Besides, as you said, we'll at least have the chance to keep an eye on them and we'll be able to study them when they're in the field." Canary added.

"So, all that's left is the logistics." Aquaman stated. "Their base, modus operandi, covers etcetera."

"We're already in their base." Batman replied to the shock of everyone present. "We'll be vacating this base for the Watchtower in a fortnight. By then, Cyborg, myself and the Flash would have this place retooled for them including the teleportation and a whole new security system. Beyond specific missions requiring special instructions from us, they're free to operate as they choose for as long as it remains under Black Ops parameters. Most of them will be enrolled in the Happy Harbor High School or surrounding businesses as they choose. Martian Manhunter has agreed to be a supervisor for the team and, using telepathy, will be in charge of conducting life-like simulations for them."

"I'm in." Canary interrupted with a small smile. "Telepathic trainings might be cool and all but they'll need at least some physical training. So, I volunteer."

Batman nodded. "Alright. I would like to have two more supervisors for their team, preferably a male and female to balance things out."

"I'll take up the male spot then." Cyborg volunteered. "I can't exactly waltz around the city like I used to so I'll need something to keep myself busy. Besides," he threw a tentatively cocky smirk at Black Canary. "physical fighting can't get you through a two-hundred-and-fifty-six-bit encrypted titanium door if you're under stealth parameters so they'll need technical know-how."

The blonde heroine smiled. "True."

"Then it's settled. All that's left is to find a female supervisor for team..." The Flash turned to Batman. "What are we calling them?"

Batman shrugged. "Their choice."

Okay, new story, I know.

Here's the deal: my phone was stolen, making me lose progress on my Altered story. During the void-like period of not having a phone, this idea popped in and now, while I'm working on Altered chap 14, I decided to give this a whirl.

So please, read and review.

P.S: the timeline here is a personal creation of mine. For now, just know that each of the heroes have been heroes long enough to have protégés. Also, the events of Throne of Atlantis occur five years before JL War. As such, Wonder Woman debuted publically during ToA while Vic Stone shows up during the War for the first time.

Meanwhile, Batman, Flash, Aquaman and Wonder Woman have all experienced a few incidences that puts them on the trail of a secret organization. Bats recruits Cyborg to help track down a money trail.

P.P.S: Before you guys crucify ;

Yes, I know the spelling of Darkseid. I was simply referring to the fact that, being their first time meeting him, they wouldn't know how to spell his name, even in their heads.

Also: Naruto 19 and Kaguya 18? Yup. Naruto because I'm factoring in the Fourth Shinobi War lasting a year and Post Training/Pre-War lasting two years. As for Kaguya, hers will be explained later.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

The Ethereal Lord.

 **Feb 16 2018 Edit**

-Added a few sentences to smoothen the flow of some dialogues

-Created POV markers for relevant scenes. Scenes in third person POV remain unmarked.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 2**_

 _ **A Week Later...**_

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

 _My eyes narrow in annoyance as I watch my white haired foe cut a swathe right through the army of clones I sent to attack her. Be it from the sky, below the ground or from any of the cardinal directions, all at once or an ambush, the result remains the same; her evolved form of the Shikotsumyaku, combined with an equally evolved Byakugan, rip right through my corporeal, but not durable, clones._

'You need to end her as soon as possible.' _Kurama warns me. '_ Her battle prowess is terrifying and she is gradually evolving to match your battle style. Soon enough, she'll be able to defeat you up close.'

 _'And that'll be the end.' I feel my frown deepen as I watch my clones attempt a ninjutsu-taijutsu combination attack that ends abruptly when she blasts them back with the rinnegan's gravitational powers. 'If only Sasuke was here. We could have mounted a combination attack that would at least force her onto the defensive.'_

'She'd be a fool to attempt a battle against the combined might of the power that sealed her in the first place.' _Shukaku grunts._ _''_ From the memories Father showed us, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki is nowhere near a fool.'

'Now look sharp boy, she approaches.' _Son Goku warns in his gruff tones._

 _My eyes lock onto my rapidly approaching enemy and, gripping my dual staves tightly, I blast forward to meet her._

 _At any other time in my life, right up to when Kurama and I synched both bijū chakra and senjutsu chakra, I'd have simply turned tail and run if I'd had to face Kaguya. The woman is a beast in every sense of the word; speed, strength, durability, sheer fighting prowess... combined with her Ash Killing Bones, Byakugan, Rinne-sharingan and her hair that moves like it_ _'_ _s got a mind of its own, she could very easily have destroyed the Grand Shinobi Alliance, Madara, Kabuto and his reanimated cronies and anything else we could throw at her._

 _But now, with the full power of Asura, son of the Rikudō Sennin unleashed within me, combined with the power of the bijū and nature chakra, I can more than match her._

 _She comes in with a low swinging slash with her right hand that I hop over before leading in with a stab from my left hand. It's a feint, one that she easily sees through, and moves her shoulder just a bit to the right to dodge before pressing forth with a palm strike. I twist again, using the momentum of my spin to swing a slash at her head. She blocks with the bony spike jutting out of her palm and I push down on it, forcing her down, before I push myself back into the air._

 _'Son!'_

 _'_ Right!'

 _"Yōton: Jinsoku Yōtama!"_

 _About sixty high-speed balls of lava shoot out of the air about me, streaking down toward Kaguya who swiftly shoots backward, dodging each and every one of them._

 _Less than a_ _millisecond_ _later, I'm behind her, having switched p_ _l_ _aces with a concealed clone. Fist erupting into a blaze of lava, I plow a right straight into her back. "Yōton: Yōken!"_

 _As I dive forward to attack her, Sasuke appears by my side and, faster than I had switched with my clone, we appear in the midst of a grassy plain._

 _"Naruto, we need to talk..."_

— **~ ~—**

My eyes snap open and I wonder exactly why I'm awake.

Then, my ears, hyper-enhanced by my power boost along with all my other senses, picks it up: a small whimper from the room across the hall from mine.

"Damn it..." I sigh as my legs swing out of the bed I've slept in for the past three weeks, my eyes cutting across to the small bedside clock on the table.

4:26 AM.

Three weeks of me living in a totally new world, learning all of the customs of this world. Language, traditions, culture... man I honestly don't know where I'd be without my shadow clones.

Within the time I've been here, I've had to help stop an invasion, care for a person who was once my worst enemy and rediscover the limits of my abilities.

I'm still working on that.

Another whimper draws me out of my ruminations and I head over to the next room, two clones appearing by my side with little more than a thought and head downstairs to prepare something to eat.

Pausing in the doorway, I watch as she twists and turns in her sleep, obviously tormented by something only she can see...

"My sons..." She chokes out a sob and, in the low light of the room my eyes watch a tiny, sparkling tear slide down her cheek.

I sigh again and walk over to sit by her side, running a water cloaked hand across her forehead.

When she'd woken up two weeks ago, she had been a jumble of nerves, confused and lost as her own true memories slowly synched with those of herself when she was possessed by the Shijū. She'd shown a remarkable amount of mental fortitude during the daytime and particularly when the Bat-themed hero who had set us up with this apartment had asked to know about us. Drawing on a well of experience, she'd presented herself as a princess and referred to me as her personal bodyguard and had spun what I had called the 'Best Bullshit Story Ever.' We had worked together to learn the customs of this world and she proved herself to be very intelligent, learning almost as fast as I did without using shadow clones.

Yet, every night, she was plagued by these nightmares. She'd tried to avoid sleeping, saying she wished to catch up to me in learning yet every morning she'd be in bed, tossing and turning. From the little I'd heard her moan, I've come to believe that she truly was enslaved within her own mind...

Which honestly makes it difficult for me to hate her as I once thought I would. Hell, now I honestly find it difficult to believe that me, the number one give-everyone-a-second-chance guy, actually considered killing her in cold blood when we first showed up on that rooftop, even with the knowledge of her being as much of a victim as I was...

"Guess wars really do change people..."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **Kaguya's POV**_

 _"Father, please!" I cry, feeling the tears run down my cheeks as I plead with him. "This may just be the way to heal Toneri and end the Wars forever! Isn't that what you want?"_

 _His cold and unchanging glare remains the same as he rebukes me once again for bringing this subject up. "I understand that your brother's condition has worsened considerably within the past two days but I will NOT have a daughter or even a slave of mine breaking the Pact. Let the other tribes commit genocide as they so desire, we will survive with the Shiranui tribe as the protectors of the great Shin_ _j_ _ū"_

 _"I will proceed with this plan, Father." I glare at the regal looking man whose face almost mirrors mine, incensed by the fact that he seems to value some stuffy traditions over the life of his son. "Whether you like it or not."_

 _"Try it, Kaguya, and I will have you locked away in a padded room, one without windows, and I will claim that your mind has been broken by your brother's sudden decline in health."_

 _For what seems like an eternity, I'm locked in a contest of wills with my father, eyes boring into each other's souls..._

 _And I_ see...

 _I see the pain experienced by a father, a man locked painfully into traditions so much so that he is willing to sacrifice all of his dreams of peace... and even his son... to keep up the old ways of living..._

 _I can't help but soften inside and I feel tears roll down my cheeks._

 _My father takes this as a sign and walks away, believing the discussion is over._

 _It is._

 _My eyes softened, not in pained understanding, but in pity... pity for a man who isn't willing to rock the boat for fear of getting wet._

 _I'm getting my hands on that Shinjū's fruit._

 _And when I do..._

 _Well, you'd best believe that I'll fucking gorge myself on it._

—~ ~—

 _It's one thing to look up at a height and say, 'Wow! That is really tall!'_

 _It's another thing_ entirely _to haul yourself right up under a time limit._

 _"Finally!" My lungs burn, my heart pumps like its about to impale itself on my ribs and let's not even go into my muscles._

 _But, fuck all the odds, I've done it._

 _I pull myself over the edge and I roll into the cupola in the center of the Great Tree. For the next couple of minutes, all I can do is breathe, from short gasps to more even breaths._

 _Upon finally_ _stabilizing_ _my pulse and ensuring that the spots dancing in front of my eyes have all cleared, I slowly open my eyes._

 _I probably gasped, though I'm not very sure. What I am sure of is that before my eyes lies a vision of perfect beauty._

 _I honestly can't explain what I'm looking at. It shines like a polished ruby, floating gently in the air, tiny refractions of light being thrown around it like ever shifting diamonds._

 _'It's so beautiful...' I hear the thought in my own head yet it doesn't feel like it_ _'_ _s mine... 'I feel like merely watching it like this is sullying it's beauty...'_

 _I feel myself slipping as I watch the Jinki, my consciousness almost like it's leaving my body._

 _'Why am I here?' The thought that isn't mine asks. 'What do I seek?'_

 _Then, it hits me like a bolt of lightning._

 _'Toneri-kun!' I gasp as memories of his deathly pale face flashes past, drawn into the void that is opening in my soul. The sounds of his agonized screams push past me and the sensation of his clammy skin beneath my fingers act as the final blast, turning me away from the void._

 _I push forward, struggling to reach the Jinki, mentally chanting Toneri's name to strengthen my resolve. As I touch it, I feel a strange sense of_ _curiosity_ _pervade my being but I ram past it and lift the fruit to my lips._

 _"I'm_ _going to_ _save you, Otouto." I whisper. "Then, I'm_ _going to_ _save the world."_

—~ ~—

 _I watch through bored eyes and listen through uninterested ears as yet another mindless voice drones on in the background, bringing tributes to the Usagi no Megami on the delivery of her twin boys._

 _I don't really care as all my attention is on the little bundle of energy on my lap. Little Hagoromo is always so full of energy that I sometimes wonder..._

'If he'll be my end...'

 _I shake my head sharply to dislodge the thought, a variant of the many that have plagued me since Hagoromo and Hamura's birth._

 _"You know, I think the Usagi no Megami should be a little bit more attentive to the dignitaries presenting their tributes to her."_

 _I smile and turn to the owner of the voice, my husband, Shirō. "Sorry. Sometimes they just get really boring. Tell you what; take Hagoromo-kun to bed and I promise to listen to a bunch of people drone on boringly."_

 _"Alright then, Peace Maker." He laughs and swoops a squirming Hagoromo into his arms. "See you later love."_

 _I smile at his retreat, watching him play with our son..._

 _'My darling...'_

'My doom...'

—~ ~—

 _"My... my sons..."_

 _Tears spill down my cheeks as I, for the first time since I ate the Jinki, reconnect fully with my body._

 _I can feel the Shinjū's deranged, malicious power forcing its way back into control of my body but I don't care._

 _I'm too stunned to care as I see the horrified looks the two in my grasp send my way. The pain of my shock gives the Shinjū the opening it needs to fully regain control over my body and seal my_ _consciousness_ _back into the cage it had first constructed for me._

 _I don't care. In fact, I'm almost relieved. At least now, I don't have to see the looks of revulsion they had in their eyes._

 _'They hate me... Sweet Kami, they hate me!'_

 _How did it all go so horribly wrong? I had only wanted to save my brother and bring peace to the warring states! Why, then, was I the cause of all the damage I'd been forced to watch the Shinjū wreak in my name and in my body? Was the desire to protect what was precious to me so wrong?_

 _I feel the pain build up to a fevered pitch until all I can do to release the pressure is scream..._

—~ ~—

My eyes snap open as I lurch forward out of my bed, the keening wail of my own voice ricocheting off the walls.

"Hey! Hey, calm down." I feel a pair of strong arms encircle my shoulders and I'm pulled into a warm embrace, held there until the shivers wracking my body stop.

"Nightmare?" He asks softly.

I want to put on a brave face, to act like I didn't just wake up screaming my throat raw but I know that it's pointless. He's stood by my side since the first time I regained consciousness, free, finally, of the Shijū's pervasive influence on my mentality. Through all that, even when I shut myself off, so ashamed of myself that I wanted to kill myself and rid the world of my evil, he remained by my side, sometimes saying nothing, just comforting me with his presence.

I don't know why he still cares. From my synched memories, I know that I've been the root of unbearable pain for him.

"Kaguya?" The warmth in his voice draws me out of my thoughts and I recall his question.

"Nightmares. A montage of memories..."

"Want to talk about them?"

I shake my head. "You'll hate me."

And, for some reason, that's the one thing I don't think I'll be able to survive.

We sit in silence for a while and I simply draw in his warmth.

"When are you going to let it go?"

While I understand exactly what he's talking about, I feign ignorance and I know he's decided to play along by explaining.

"I know a bit about guilt, Kaguya." He looks away and his eyes gain a lost, dreamlike gleam. "I nearly killed the girl I now consider to be a sister once, and I remember falling into depression and suffering from nightmares. While it isn't as much as yours, I know that sharing your feelings is the first step..."

I want to. I really want to tell him what I feel, especially because I can feel that he is in pain because of my reluctance to talk to him. But that deep-seated fear that the only person that cares for me in this new world could ultimately hate me holds me back.

He probably senses my hesitance and smiles at me. "So, how's your training going?"

Thankful for the change in conversation topic, I pull away from his embrace to sit opposite him. "It's been excellent. Judging by my memories, I've still got all the skills with the Byakugan and the Shikotsumyaku and as for my hair..." With a simple thought, my hair gathers itself from all over the bed and tucks itself into a neat braid.

"Damn." He chuckles. "Ino would kill to have that ability."

I wince as he mentions the name, recalling from some of our previous discussions that she was one of his friends.

"Well," He hops lightly to his feet and heads toward the door. "I'm ready to go for my morning run and my clones are preparing breakfast so I'd suggest that you either get some more shut eye or you go take your bath."

"I'll decide later." I reply, feeling a small smile tug at the corners of my lips. "Thank you, Naruto."

He spins around and performs a bow that is as mocking as it is equally sincere. "You're most welcome, Kaguya-hime."

—~ ~—

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

 _ **"Time to break da chain, no pain, don't be afraid; But kawaranai... Same ol' days, same ol' ways-"**_

My Zen-like state is broken as I all but plow into a blonde girl who's dressed in black sweatpants and a green tank top, jolting the earphones out of my ears. Reaching out quickly, I grab hold of her arm to help her regain her balance.

"Ah... You okay?" I feel my hand reaching up to scratch at the back of my head, inwardly cringing in expectation of her anger.

"Nah, I'm good." She smiles and in that instant, I'm captivated by her eyes.

Dark, forest green eyes that seem to convey a sense of absolute confidence in one's own self...

"Uh... you realize that you're staring, right?"

"Ah... sorry." I apologize. "It's just... you have very beautiful eyes."

She arches an eyebrow at that. "Really? Well, you're pretty forward."

Yup, I honestly just realized exactly how my statement sounded and I decide to retract my statement. "Oh, uh... I didn't mean..."

"Wait, so my eyes aren't beautiful?" She pouts and stares at me through huge, teary eyes.

The only reason I don't fall for it is that both Ino and Anko had used the infamous 'Chōgata Inu Inu no Me' to coerce me into taking them on shopping sprees. Suffice it to say that Fukasaku-ojii-chan's the only reason poor Gama-chan is alive.

"Nice try, lady, but I've gained immunity to those eyes." I smirk.

"Doubtful." She scoffs. "Just wait till you have a little daughter."

"You may just be right..." I concede, leaving the sentence open so she can fill it with her name.

"Artemis. Artemis Crock." She smiles. "And you?"

I instantly consider the pros and cons of giving her my real name and decide that the cons outweigh the pros. "Minato. Namikaze Minato."

Her eyes widen in obvious surprise. "Japanese? Wow, I never expected that."

I understood her comments. I didn't look remotely like any of the Japanese I'd seen while studying up on this new world. Time for Bullshit Story #2.

"I get that a lot. The thing is, both my dad and mom had an American parent each so I've always believed that I simply stole all the American genes in my parents."

Thank Kami that I'd remembered to cover up my whiskers with a modified henge this morning.

"Seems plausible." she nods. "So, whatcha doin' out here so early?"

"Running." I reply offhandedly. "You?"

"Jogging." Her eyes narrow. "New to the area?"

"Should be asking you that." I reply with a guarded shrug of my own. "Been running for over two weeks along this same route."

She relaxes visibly with a sigh. "Ah... I've been out for a while. Just got back from Star City yesterday night, actually. Six week excursion."

"There we go." I nod. "Just started living here about a month ago."

"In that case, welcome to Gotham." She seems like she's about to say more when her watch beeps. "Ah dear... Sorry Minato, I gotta go. My mom's waiting for me back home."

"No problem. I should get going too." I smile at her. "See you again?"

"Hopefully." I reply simply. "Bye Artemis."

"Bye, Minato."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **August 2**_ _ **nd**_

 _ **Streets of Gotham/ West Residence, Central City**_

 _ **10:00AM EST**_

"Wally here! Who am I speaking to?"

"Wally, its Dick-"

"Dude! What the hell man! Two weeks without a word from you and then you call with from an unknown number? What gives?"

Standing in a phone booth a few meters behind the bus-stop, the dark haired teenager smiled. "Typical Wally. You just enjoy rambling don't you?"

On the other end of the conversation, the sandy-blond, Wally West swung his feet onto the table in front of him and stretched back. "Hey, you're the one who just dropped off the face of the Earth." He paused to munch on a chocolate bar. "So what's up?"

"Couple of things, really."

"Naturally." Wally rolled his eyes and then raced to the kitchen to check on the cookies Iris had left in the oven. "You in town?"

"Nah, still in Gotham."

"The quintessential home for a emo wannabes." He laughed as he opened the oven. "You need to head over here. You still hold the Central City parkour record for fastest time completing a course."

Back in said 'Quintessential Home', Dick's smile grew a tad dreamy. "Yeah... I'll definitely want to back that last performance. In the mean time-"

Once again, the dark haired boy was interrupted by his Central City friend. "And how is Ms. Roth? I think I understand exactly why you haven't called me. I mean, you've got a lady to take care of. You've probably been too busy sleuthing around to detect exactly where she's from-"

"Blüdhaven."

"And why she's running." Wally continued on. "On a side note, you have got to introduce us sometime. Probably when you head over here-"

"Wally!" Dick stated firmly, finally managing to shut his friend up. "I will introduce you to her on one condition: we meet up in D.C. tonight..."

—~ ~—

 _ **August 2**_ _ **nd**_

 _ **Seat of Neptune; Throne Room**_

 _ **Atlantis**_

 _ **10:43AM EST**_

"You summoned me, my King."

Arthur smiled at his young protégé. "Indeed. Get up, Kaldur."

The dark skinned blond stood as commanded and waited expectantly for the king of Atlantis to speak.

"I have considered your words, Kaldur'ahm, and, against mine and my wife's personal desires, we have been forced to see the truth in them." Arthur stated sadly. "It is a shame to me that most of my fellow Atlanteans cannot see you for the excellent man you have grown to be, choosing only to see you as the son of a traitor. I have seen you train harder and work better than any of your peers to escape the dark shadow he cast over you and I know that it is the actions of those who choose not to see what lies right in front of their eyes that extends that shadow."

The blond king paused in his words to watch the young man closely. While Kaldur's face and general body posture remained unchanged, long years of one on one interaction with the boy allowed him to see the tighter-than-normally clenched fists and the tension in his facial muscles. This was a topic that hurt the boy deeply.

With a defeated sigh, the king continued: "Unfortunately, out of personal hopes and dreams, I have added to your burden." He raised a palm to silence the objections his protégé was no doubt ready to raise. The boy had an overwhelming sense of loyalty to his people, especially to his King and Queen. Why others never saw this baffled Arthur. "No, Kaldur'ahm. It's the truth and you very well know it. And so, Mera and I have come to a decision."

The Atlantean King rose from his throne, holding his trident as he moved, and stood before the boy. Sensing the importance of what was to come, the boy dropped to a knee.

The king raised the trident above his head as the magical weapon and his symbol of authority took on a golden hue. "I, Arthur Curry, King of Atlantis and Wielder of the Trident of Neptune, release you, Kaldur'ahm, from your service to Atlantis." At this point, he lowered the trident to rest on the boy's right shoulder. "From this day onward, you are a free man, Kaldur."

"Thank you, my king." Kaldur whispered as a lone tear slipped out of his eye to mingle with the water around them.

"Rise up, Kaldur." The king smiled and replaced the trident in its holster. "Walk with me."

Both men left the Throne room and swam out to Mera's Gardens.

"I know I can count on you to continue the excellent job you have begun here Kaldur." Arthur smiled. "And so I have a favor to ask of you."

"You need only ask my king." Kaldur bowed.

The Atlantean King's eyes hardened as he spoke. "The waters speak to me, Kaldur, as do the creatures that make it their home. In recent times, reports have come to me that someone, an organization perhaps, is kidnapping Atlanteans. They have been clever about it, taking only some criminals in transit or one or two patrol men but I will not stand for this. My friends within the League have obtained a plausible location from which we can begin investigations"."

"Where is this place?"

"Somewhere in Washington D.C..."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **August 2**_ _ **nd**_

 _ **Hippolyta's Grounds**_

 _ **Themyscira**_

 _ **12:17PM EST**_

Diana ducked beneath a powerful crescent kick, hair sent flying by the displaced wind. Without waiting for her opponent, she punched out with a hand, all but two fingers balled up in a fist as she aimed her rigid fingers toward a pressure point.

Twisting with what had to be Olympic-level flexibility, her opponent shifted to the side, avoiding the finger strike and using the momentum of her movement to drive a punch towards Wonder Woman's skull.

Skilled fighter that she was however, Diana had already begun pulling her hand back when her opponent began to turn and was able to catch the offending fist before it struck her noggin. Applying a bit of her strength, she pulled her opponent's hand downward while she uncorked an uppercut that sent the poor girl flying.

"That's enough for today." Wonder Woman called after her flying opponent after a quick glance at the time. Batman, The Flash and Aquaman had all called in to let her know of their young partners' plans for the night and so it was her turn.

Walking over to a bench nearby, the Themyscira princess sat back and basked in the beauty of nature. Man's World may have had many wonders, a lot of which she'd gone to explore, but she always yearned for the unpolluted connection to nature she felt here on Themyscira. The closest she'd felt to this connection in recent times was that instant during the War when that strange young man, Uzumaki Naruto, had grabbed hold of her to steady her after she'd been blasted by Darkseid but that was neither here nor there.

"So sis, how's things been on your end?"

Diana looked to her left to see the Amazon she considered to be more of a sister to herself than any other on the island.

Donna Troy.

Beyond the stunning similarities they shared in their looks, Donna had a personality that always had Diana see her as more than a student. Even Cassie Sandsmark, the young Amazon who looked up to her as a mentor couldn't evoke such feelings.

Having practically the same power set didn't hurt either.

"Things are moving quite well." She shrugged, answering the younger girl's question before asking how things were back here.

"Oh we're still moving. Queen Hippolyta's pushing a few of the more skilled warriors to working patrol duty." Donna stopped to take a swig of water from a bottle on the bench. "The only reason I'm not part of the patrols is that I've been deemed a 'possible target'."

"They're not exactly wrong, you know." Diana frowned as she remembered the ordeal her surrogate sister had been through two months ago. "The people that kidnapped you... I believe they knew that you had similar powers to me. If it weren't for the Batman I may have been unable to get you back."

Donna scowled, the memories of being trapped in a dark room while unknown people stuck her arms with needles running through her head. "I do not doubt the fact that I'm a possible target, one that's even more at risk than anyone else but I really wish I could just get my hands on whoever planned that torture."

The Princess of Themyscira smiled at the opening she was given. "That may actually be possible..."

The younger Amazon glanced at the older and, when she realized that she wasn't being teased, gaped in shock. "Really?"

"I've already spoken to mother about it. She argued a bit but then agreed with me."

"By the bows of Artemis!" Donna leapt to her feet. "What do I need to do?"

"We'll fly over to a place called Washington DC for starters..."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **August 2**_ _ **nd**_

 _ **Hall of Justice, Mount Justice**_

 _ **A Few Miles off the Happy Harbor Coast**_

 _ **02:37PM EST**_

After a final lap around the entire structure, he stood in the center of the Hall, arms akimbo and let out a satisfied sigh. "Alright Cyborg, light it up!"

Crouching before an open circuit board a few meters away, the dark-skinned mecha-human activated the board via technopathy and returned it to its spot within a large workstation, ensuring that the hatch was properly sealed.

Nothing happened for the first few seconds. Then, just as the Scarlet Speedster was about to comment on the lack of power, a gentle hum sounded from the workstation, their only warning before the Hall was bathed in lights.

"Woo!" The Flash pumped a fist into the air. "Alright then, all electrical systems are online."

-Anyone there?- Canary's voice crackled over the static of communications devices.

"We're here Canary." Cyborg replied. "Initiating Zeta tube transfer... Now."

The circular doorway leading into the redesigned Hall glowed golden-yellow and then, the silhouette of a human figure appeared.

~Recognized: Black Canary; Designation S-02~

"What's with the robot voice?" The blonde asked.

"I added that so we can always know precisely whoever is coming in." Cyborg answered. "The team will be designated 'B' since they're Batman's brainchild, we'll be designated 'S' being supervisors and the rest of the League being 'J'."

"Hey!" The Flash sounded indignant as he walked over to join them. "How about me? And Batman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman? Don't we get a special designation?"

The former pro football player smiled. "You guys get the designation 'P'. Stands for proprietor."

"Nice." The two males fist-bumped just as the Batman walked in from the lower levels.

"Well done on the Zeta tube, Cyborg." He said with a nod of greeting to Black Canary. "And thank you for the work done on the lower levels, Flash. How was your journey Canary?"

"Slightly disconcerting really." She replied with a shrug. "Nothing a girl can't get used to."

"So, why'd we rush this anyway?" The Flash asked the Dark Knight. "Thought the plan was for next week."

"I was able to locate a possible base of the group we're targeting." He answered as he walked up to the workstation and began typing rapidly, bringing up results. "Sumdac Labs, a subsidiary of the Sumdac Research Group, owned by Doctors Sumitha Banerji and Dalton Crane. While the SRG has multiple labs all over the country, the one in D.C just kicked off operations November seventeenth, twenty-fourteen."

"That's four years ago." Cyborg stated.

"And exactly a year after the Atlantean Incursion." Canary added. "I'd have said coincidence if anyone else brought it up."

"Of all the Labs, Sumdac DC is their first foray into genetics. Gene splicing, genetic modifications, controlled evolution and devolution, they're attempting it all and that's where my investigation led me." He activated the workstation's holo-vid and opened a series of images. "See if you can figure out why."

Like the last time, the Speedster was the first to notice it and he immediately pointed it out. "That does NOT belong on a building with only three floors."

The image he pointed to was a grainy shot of a man entering an elevator. Judging by the quality, it was probably taken by a daring youth who had snuck his phone into the research facility and snapped a few photos.

"It's a man entering an elevator." Canary rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure he belongs."

"Not the man, the elevator. It's a Silver Slip Express. That brand is exclusively designed for buildings with a minimum of fifty floors."

The heroine whistled. "Large discrepancy."

"Hence my decision to use this opportunity to assemble the team." Batman stated.

"Well, I already told Wally that he had the week off to enjoy the summer so he won't have to ask for permission to head out after Dick."

"Aquaman has already sent his now former protégé, Kaldur'ahm, to investigate the Sumdac DC. He'll arrive in two hours time, matching the time Diana will be dropping Donna off for her investigation." Cyborg stated.

"So, what about Miss M'orzz and our offworlders?"

"Martian Manhunter has assured me that M'gann will be at the building by the time the rest of the team begin investigations." Batman answered Canary's question. "Dick told Wally that he'll introduce Raven to him tonight so I believe that she'll be on hunt with him. As for Princess Ōtsusuki and her bodyguard, I'll be meeting them within the hour to explain this to them."

A shiver of trepidation ran through the other members of the League as they wondered just how the Dark Knight would take care of the two most unpredictable variables in this equation.

It was the Black Canary that voiced their concerns in her own unique manner: "Tch, good luck with that."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

"Really? That's the best you can come up with, keeping us on leashes behind a glass display?" I feel my lip curl in disgust. "I wonder why the hell I even-"

"Enough Naruto." Kaguya cuts off my rant without so much as a glance at me. Standing exactly one step to her left and two steps behind her, I fold my arms across my chest and glare at the man seated directly opposite us.

He'd waltzed in about ten minutes ago, spouting all sorts about his plan and a team of runts. Then, he'd dropped the bomb of how he wanted us to join in, pulling a bunch of crappy excuses as to the benefits of our cooperation.

"While I apologize for Naruto's brashly spoken words, I must admit that I am entirely in agreement with him." Kaguya says coolly, her voice never wavering from its bored tone. "I am very certain that you understand by now just how powerful he is so I am sure you have reasons for tendering this suggestion in such a direct manner."

He sighs as he nods. "Trust. That's the single reason I decided to be absolutely honest with you. While it is foreseeable that I could have sprung some elaborate lie to cover my actual intentions, I decided that it would be much better if I faced your anger now than face your wrath when you discover that you have been played."

I feel myself nodding before I can stop it as I grudgingly accept the truth in his words. Pissed as I am now, I'd probably have ripped him to shreds if I had later on discovered that I was played into helping him.

"Why bring this to us?" I ask him, still keeping the edge of anger to my voice.

"Beyond the League requiring a means of constantly observing you, I felt that your experience with conflict could aid the team's overall performance as heroes, both on individual levels and as a unit."

Again, I must admit that his reasons are quite realistic. With any team involving people of varying degrees of experience, it is usually advised that at least one person with high levels of experience in the subject matter be added. It's why the basic four-man squad of shinobi usually has at least one experienced jōnin.

Judging by the minute shifts in her body language, I can tell that while Kaguya agrees with him, she sure as hell does not plan on making it easy for him.

"Why should we accept?" She asks, sounding so bored even I'm tempted to think that she's more interested in examining her fingernails than discussing our new occupation. "Or, to put it another way, what's in it for us?"

His eyes widen fractionally before narrowing to slits. "I thought you'd do it out of the kindness of your heart."

Kaguya's scoff is similar to Baa-chan's when she was still the Queen of the Cynic Kunoichi. "Please, Batman. I speak to you both as a leader and as a warrior; how many of you in your League can truly say they're doing what they do selflessly? I am absolutely certain that each and every one of you fight for this world for a hidden reason or the other, be it vengeance, a sense of duty or to honor a memory of a loved one. Essentially, your fellow League members fight because doing so fulfills a deep desire within themselves."

Only my years of training with Koyuki and Ero-sennin on acting help me keep my looks schooled. Sweet Kami! I knew she was intelligent but clearly, whoever taught her the arts of deliberation, negotiation and mediation was a grandmaster and she was clearly nipping at their heels.

Then, she abruptly stands up. "Think on that. Naruto and I have a late night appointment somewhere in..."

Catching the meaning of her words, he rises as well. "Washington DC."

"Thank you. You'll have transportation ready?"

"We can leave this instant."

"What's the name of the Black Ops unit of yours anyway?"

"I'm leaving that open to suggestions."

— **~ ~—**

Yes. I am leaving that up to you guys. I've got a name but I'd like to have your opinion so get suggesting! Don't forget to drop a review with one!

Side Note: I honestly did not anticipate such a high level of positive response to this story. Thank you all very much!

Meanwhile, as regards the writing style:

Also: Donna Troy over Cassie Sandsmark. Yeah. Again, personal reasons but primarily because Donna seems more mature than Cassie. Donna's origin is different here: She's granted her powers by Artemis to act as a junior ambassador to Diana's senior duties.

Review response:

Sorry mate, no Blackfire or Starfire. The main reason for this is that there's no Teen Titans for Koriand'r to join as I'm skipping that to form the Team directly.

As for Connor... He's on the Team, man. I have plans for him though, some of which should show up two chapters from now.

Anyhow...

Read & Review Please.

The Ethereal Lord.

 **Feb 16 2018 Edit:**

 **-** The continuation of the POV markers.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 3**_

To Robdor: Not exactly sure when I stated with absolute finality that Naruto was slower than FTL speeds. According to the Flash, in chapter 1, Naruto was PROBABLY just beneath light speed JUDGING FROM THE SPEED NARUTO DISPLAYED DURING THE WAR. The fact that Naruto CAN move at FTL speeds doesn't mean that he ALWAYS moves at FTL speeds.

Hope that clears things up a bit.

Also: typing out 'yep, fuck this story' doesn't tell me why you're hatin' on it.

To Matthew: What's the cliché; Naruto joining or not joining? Either way, if you've read fan fiction long enough, and I don't mean only on this site, you'll discover that either one is a bit clichéd.

I'll deal with the rest after the story...

— **~ ~—**

 _ **Kaguya's POV**_

"Why did you agree to this again?" He asks from his spot behind me. "I mean, you don't strike me as someone who just bends over to accommodate someone else's request."

"I'm not." I clarify with a shrug as I scan the building opposite ours with my byakugan. Opposite being a bit of a misnomer considering that we're currently on a rooftop about fifty meters away from the target.

"So why agree?"

I smile as memories of myself seated at the feet of my father and older brother, learning the skills necessary for leadership. It's no big surprise that Naruto wouldn't understand my decision earlier. "The mistake you're making is in believing that I've already agreed to join this mysterious Team."

"Mind explaining why we're here then?"

"We're here to gauge the strength of our possible teammates." I shrug as I continue mapping out the layout of our target structure. "As to the sudden nature of my acceptance, I only agreed to do _this_ so we could keep our Bat-themed friend off balance.

"While he was prepared for an outright rejection or acceptance, he wasn't prepared for both. Your angered response simply matched what he'd expected as did mine. However, he did _not_ expect a sudden, spur of the moment switch to acceptance of a _part_ of his mission. By abruptly accepting this task, he is now left wondering whether we will be joining his team or not."

"And will we?"

I feel my breath hitch up in my chest, knowing that he may not like what I'm about to suggest. "Currently? I'm leaning toward joining."

"Why?"

A part of me feels relieved that he hasn't raged at me yet, but another part wonders why. "I know you've heard of keeping your friends close and enemies closer so I'll head straight to the point: What do you consider the Justice League to be to us?"

"Potential allies." He replies instantly.

"Exactly. So where do we keep them?"

He doesn't respond and I use the opportunity to focus on finishing my mental map.

"We keep them in between." He replies as realization dawns on him. "Close enough to earn their trust but far enough to keep our own secrets."

"Precisely. While we could decide to decline his request, doing so would increase their interest in us. We'd be spied on at every opportunity and we'd have a hard time knowing it. This way, they get to see the side we choose to show them. And we get to do something good while we're here."

He doesn't respond right away, thinking over my opinion, and when he does, it's not exactly what I expected to hear: "What do you see?"

"The structure is like an iceberg. What we see right now is only about ten percent of the actual structure. There are at least forty-seven levels beneath ground level, though things get blurry the more I attempt to see the lowest levels."

"How far does it stretch?"

"It almost reaches the boundary walls. It's like a pyramid, the smallest surface is at the tip."

"And our possible allies?"

"I see two of them. One is hovering above us, the other is in some sort of pipe."

"Most likely the royal troops." I hear the smirk in his voice and I turn to him.

"Ready to go?"

"Lead the way, my lady."

"No bodyguard leaves their principal to wander ahead into unknown territory." I shoot back, knowing that my smile is smug but I don't bother to hide it.

"Alright Princess Smug-Pants." He concedes as he moves to stand on the edge of the roof we're on. "Just don't get left behind."

He then drops off the building.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **August 2**_ _ **nd**_

 _ **45m away from Sumdac Labs,**_

 _ **Washington DC**_

 _ **10:07PM**_

"See anything?" The Kid Flash asked as one of his partners scanned the grounds ahead of them.

"Yeah... Six guards, two patrolling the front gates, one operating the security booth, three making rounds within the tree lines." Robin replied. "There's a camera mounted on both ends of the gate and four laser trip lines crisscrossing the gate at varying heights."

"And those are just the security measures we can see from out here." Raven muttered from beneath her drawn up hood. "There are bound to be more inside."

"So, Robin, remind me again why we're about to break into a lab." Kid Flash asked.

"I saw this place on the list Batman's compiling of possible links to the War. However, he attached a footnote that investigations would be delayed until the whole fiasco with Senator Finch is over."

"So you decided to attempt a sneak operation to help?"

"Yeah." Robin shrugged. "Of course, pulling this off would definitely prove to Batman that I can work on my own and since I happen to know that you're also chomping at the bit, I decided that we could do this together."

"If you really plan on completing this self-set task, then you might want to figure out a way into that complex." Raven stated quietly.

"Already got it." Robin smirked as he dropped the binoculars he'd all but glued to his face to pull out a long, thin, pipe. "Here's the plan: I'm going to take out their digital eyes with this blow dart. Raven will use that moment to knockout the guards while I shut down their motion sensors. K.F, the moment I give the signal, blitz down there and take out the guards behind the trees."

His partners nodded, all signs of playfulness erased from the yellow-suited speedster as he pulled his goggles on.

"Remember guys," Robin exhaled slowly before sucking in a deep breath, "we have to be careful so we don't leave a trail."

There was a soft 'phut' as the Boy Wonder exhaled sharply, sending a small ball flashing out, angled expertly to minimize the effects of the wind, to attach itself to the back of a camera.

Showing absolutely no sign of elation at his successful shot, the dark haired boy swiftly activated his wrist mounted holo-computer and initiated a hack of the Sumdac Labs closed circuit security system. A few seconds later, he nodded to Raven.

The irises of the cloaked girl glowed violet for an instant, immediately after which the three guards at the gate slumped.

Kid Flash kept his eyes on the guards behind the trees, noting their positions and every little twitch they made. His mentor had warned him that even as fast as they were, remaining unobservant of their environment could easily spell their doom.

"K.F, go!"

The word wasn't completely out of Robin's mouth when Kid Flash was already on the ground, having sprinted straight down the walls of the building they were on. He was already on the first guard before Robin could close his mouth and he was done by the time Raven felt the movement of the displaced air he'd left in his wake.

Deciding to take things slow, he dragged each man to a tree and propped them up. By the time he was done, his partners arrived.

While Raven went to inspect each man, Robin scouted the slightly below eighty meters between their position and the front doors to the Labs.

"I cast a spell on them." Raven stated as she stood between both boys. "They'll wake up a minute after we leave here with no memory of being knocked out."

"Why not do that from the start?" K.F. asked.

"Range." She shrugged. "Beyond a certain range my spells weaken considerably and unfortunately, these guys were a bit too far."

"Gotcha. Robin?"

"Door is open. We have a forty second window before my hack's overridden but keep to the tree line just in case they've got any off-grid cameras."

 _"Visios Obscurum"_ Raven chanted, her voice reverberating with power as her eyes flashed. "Cloaking spell. Let's go!"

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

Making his way through the underground pipes that lead into some random lab was not exactly how Kaldur'ahm had envisioned spending his first few hours as a free man on land. Scratch that, it was _nothing_ like he'd envisioned it.

Still, he'd do much more than this, requiring only a command from his king.

Didn't also mean he wasn't a tad jumpy, a fact proven when he killed a rat that collided with his foot.

Side note: all the other rats gave him a **very** clear berth after that. The death squeals of their unfortunate brother had ensured that.

'According to my liege's information, I should be coming up on an outlet somewhere... here...' The dark-skinned Atlantean scanned his surroundings, seeking an exit of some sort.

It was while running his hands across the surface of the wall beside him that he felt it; a tiny, almost unnoticeable flow of air.

Tracing the area with his hands, he was able to find an outline of what was likely a keyhole.

'Stuck without a key?' He asked rhetorically as he whipped out one of his water bearers.

— **~FLASHBACK~—**

Holly Short, one of the King's personal Guard unit and one of those who wasn't blinded by the lineage of the young protégé smiled as she stood in front of a door.

"Stuck without a key?" She asked the boy by her side. "Well, for doors that actually _require_ a key, I developed a small trick to help us get through without tearing the door down." She unhooked her water bearer and fitted it's head right over the keyhole. "I say _developed_ because a... friend... of mine was the one to create it. I just refined it a bit."

She activated the bearer and a soft blue glow appeared around the edges pressed up against the door. "By activating the bearer while it's in the keyhole, the water takes the shape of the inner workings of the keyhole. A small twist and~..."

— **~FLASHBACK END~—**

'Voila!' Kaldur finished as the door popped open with nary a squeak. 'Thank you Holly.'

Moving swiftly, he slid past the door, ensuring that he pulled it shut behind himself. A quick but thorough glance around showed that there were no cameras around the hallway he was now in.

'That doesn't mean there aren't any security systems in place.' He thought as he closed his eyes to focus deeply, drawing on another skill his friends had taught him.

It was Garth and Tula this time, both skilled sorcerers had developed a technique for him as a birthday gift. According to Tula, all Atlanteans had an affinity for water, only that the sorcerers could actively tap into that affinity at will. The Atlantean water bearers were able to slightly enhance the ability to tap into that affinity, allowing the less strongly attuned warriors to utilize water like they did.

What they'd done was to create a meditative state that allowed him to sense the water around him. It wasn't exactly a combat worthy ability but for sensory uses...

'Four lasers.' He thought as he felt the slightly ionized water, different from the other moisture in the air. Upon marking their positions in his head, he opened his eyes and prepared himself to move.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

Unlike all the others, Donna Troy did not _precisely_ have a skill set geared toward infiltrating anywhere.

That did _not,_ however, mean she was incapable of getting in.

All that she required was a tad bit more planning.

She'd done her infiltration earlier in the day, disguised as a young university undergrad who was interested in seeing the Labs. Being one of the most foremost research centers in the country, she hadn't been alone.

During that time, she'd carefully mapped out her every step, noting exactly how she'd get through the security later that night.

Later, of course, being now.

Pulling the security system operator out of his chair, she settled in and searched for anything of relevance.

Her search was abruptly halted when she felt a blade drawn up against her neck.

"Don't move a muscle."

The voice was cold, devoid of any emotion. While her body relaxed, she glanced at a dark screen a bit to her right so she could catch a glimpse of her assailant.

His hair was raven black and the lower half of his face was hidden behind a black mask that peaked on the bridge of his nose. His eyes were cold chips of blue ice and from the little she could see of him, his mask extended to his neck where it was continued by a turtleneck of some kind.

"May I ask what you want?" Donna tried to sound neutral but her innate Amazon nature, combined with her near-royalty training, made her sound pompous and arrogant, at least to her own ears.

"Enlightenment..."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

The two guards ahead of us are dropped by Kaguya's _Shigan_ and we move over to them. Rinnegan active, I create two more clones and use the _Ningendo_ to drag their souls out of their bodies, absorbing the information within and dispersing it to my clones who instantly transform to look like the dead men. They'll have to do until I can send in more durable clones.

"Path's clear." Kaguya states behind me and I spring ahead down the next hallway, Ero-sennin infamous Invisibility jutsu cloaking Kaguya and I. Due to the fact that this technique utilizes wind to bend light beams away from the caster I know that the cameras won't pick up on our physical images so I blitz onward to the main security room.

A few meters away, I hear a squeak of some kind followed by a light thump and I hold a hand up for Kaguya to stop moving.

"Security room."

She is silent for a bit before answering: "Two people; one's on the ground, likely unconscious, the other is definitely conscious. Energy signature matches that of the Princess."

"Alright, let's go meet her." I proceed down the hallway at a slower pace, taking my time to avoid making any undue sounds that can alert our target of our presence.

Upon reaching the doorway, I dash forward, pulling out a kunai and enhancing it with wind chakra, and hold the weapon to her throat. "Don't move a muscle."

From what I can see, she's probably about Ino's height, with hair as dark as Haku's. Her clothing comprises of a pair of tight black pants and a sleeveless, skin-tight black blouse that, quite interestingly, seems to have stars within it, as well as two silver wristbands that stretch down to the middle of her forearms.

"May I ask what you want?"

Judging by her tiny grimace, I believe she realizes just how arrogant she sounds. I don't blame her, though. My experiences with Koyuki and a few other nobles makes me know that such a tone is more as a result of inbred training than actual arrogance.

"Enlightenment..." I reply. It's true anyway. I'm here to be 'enlightened' as to the skill sets and abilities of our possible allies.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

Every muscle in her body was tensed, coiled like a viper, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Unfortunately, her captor never gave her that chance, his blade never wavering from her throat as he studiously watched the scenes being played out on the multiple monitors.

So, having precious little to do, she watched the proceedings, boring as they were. Nothing odd showed on any of the monitors, just guards making their rounds and an oddly shaped creature setting fire to something in the hallway-

Wait, WHAT?

Her instant of confusion nearly cost her moment as her captor's attention seemed to be drawn off to the side.

'He's saying something!' She noted and she tried to listen in to his words. 'Is that... Japanese?'

Upon further eavesdropping, she realized that it was Japanese, though of a dialect she wasn't fluent in, and that she was wasting time.

Moving at speeds that very few on the planet would have been able to follow, she pushed his knife-holding hand away while lashing out with a swinging fist, spinning out of the chair as she moved.

To her utter astonishment, her fist phased right through her enemy, a second before his image flickered out of existence.

Her mind ground to a halt in shock as she realized exactly what had happened: an afterimage!

Donna knew that her sister was fast enough to leave behind afterimages when she moved. From what she had said, the metahuman hero, Flash and the alien she was enamored with, Superman, were likely fast enough to do so as well.

But could it truly have been either?

Donna had no idea and she wasn't about to waste time trying to figure it out.

It was while setting up the security guard she had knocked out back in his seat that she saw the recording.

A creature of some kind was almost mockingly playing a game of hide and seek with a group of three teens, leading them toward an elevator.

Just as they were about to catch up with it, the creature slipped into the elevator. Her eyes switched over to the elevator camera and she noticed a strange disparity.

The building schematics Diana had obtained for her showed that the Sumdac Labs building had four above ground levels and three sub-levels.

So why did the elevator display show that the carriage was headed down to the fortieth floor?

'This must be what Diana wanted me to investigate!' She decided and, with renewed determination, she sprinted out of the room, her destination: the elevator.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

"Just so we're clear, I wasn't the only one that saw a humanoid creature with horns and pointy ears waltz into this elevator, right?"

"You forgot the blue skin." Raven replied as she tried to figure out the absurdity she'd just witnessed. 'But then again, we just survived an alien invasion. Hell, I personally took out a few of them back in Blüdhaven. A blue skinned, elfin-eared, horned creature shouldn't be so much of a shock.'

"Maybe this is what the League planned on investigating." Robin murmured to himself, though both his partners heard him clearly. "An appearance of an alien creature a few weeks after the world was subjected to a terrifying invasion. Coincidence? Possibly. But little coincidences merge to become a larger picture."

"So what do we do now?" Kid Flash asked.

"We follow it." Robin stated decisively. "The building schematics show that there are three sublevels below the complex. I say we start from the bottom and work our way up."

"Wouldn't it be more reasonable to start from the top?" Raven asked. "We'd be able to create escape routes as we move along."

"Only if we don't get caught as we head down." Robin countered easily. "We're on a stealth mission; our primary objective is to gather information and get out as discretely as possible in as little time as possible. My way, we stand a greater chance of finding out exactly what is going on here and if the shit hits the fan, we simply race past them while they're wondering what the blaring alarms are for."

Raven stared at Robin for a few more seconds as she tried to think of an argument before throwing up her hands in surrender. "Fine. You still in their systems?"

The dark haired boy nodded. "We're wiped from their cameras. I slipped a bit when we were chasing that... thing... but I've wiped their original recordings for today and switched them with doctored ones."

"Well then: All Aboard the Silver Slip Express!"

Robin froze in his tracks and turned to his speedster friend. "Did you just say the Silver Slip Express?"

Inwardly, Wally shivered at the look Dick had turned onto him. Talk about intense! "Yeah, why?"

The instant he asked, his mind provided the answer.

"Holy... That's WAY too many floors!"

"Probably what set the League on to them." Robin said as his mind began churning information at impressive speeds for a teenager.

Raven was confused and she wasn't afraid to say so.

"The Silver Slip Express, SSE for short, is a superfast elevator that, due to certain design and functionality issues, cannot be fitted into a building with anything below fifty floors. Flash told me about it while he was working one of his cases."

It didn't take a second for Raven to pick out the disparity. "Factoring in even the sublevels, we're still looking for a whole forty-seven floors."

"We're definitely starting from the bottom here." Robin stated as he walked forward. Just like it had for the alien, the elevator doors parted silently for the young boy and his partners who were directly behind them.

A tad unfortunately, for Donna at any length, she rounded the corner just in time to watch the doors slide shut.

"Shit."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

To say that Kaldur was shocked would have been a gross understatement.

'This must be what my King sensed.' He thought to himself as he watched men in white lab coats performing all kinds of tests on a submerged Atlantean. The tank the Aquarian being was in shook violently as the imprisoned man slammed punch after punch at the walls of his prison, his features obscured by the unending flow of bubbles created by the raging man.

"Subject 34-B seems immune to the neurotoxin cocktail obtained from aquatic organisms." One of the scientists stated methodically, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that they were torturing a living sentient creature. "This seems consistent with initial tests and proves that the Warrior class of the Subject's species are immune to all forms of aquatic poisons. We will now sedate Subject 34-B and return it to the Pen and commence phase four tests on the older test subjects."

Kaldur clenched his jaw hard and tried to calm himself. It was difficult, though, and it became utterly impossible to control when he saw the next subject.

'Holly!'

"Commencing tests on the Subject 3-B, an Atlantean female of the Warrior class, obtained six months ago."

'So she wasn't killed!'

"Subject has proven to be extremely resistant to all forms of aquatic-based poisons. As such, 34-B will now be subjected to terrestrial-based poisons."

Kaldur's rage turned his vision red as he reached for his water bearers only for his body to freeze.

 _'Wait!'_ A female voice commanded, loud enough to make him wince in discomfort. His eyes roved around the room, seeking the source of the voice even as he wondered why the scientists remained oblivious to it. _'Calm down. You can't help her if you just charge in recklessly.'_

Kaldur did not want to listen to this disembodied voice, particularly when he didn't trust it, but he knew that there was an element of truth in its words. Rage, Aquaman had once said, was only useful when focused. So he forced himself to calm down before sending a thought message back to the voice. 'What now?'

 _'Now, I'll put these guys to sleep. You can get your friend out after that. You'll have to be careful though. There are some really strange creatures riding on some people's shoulders and they don't strike me as friendly.'_

'I'll keep that in mind. So, what do I call you?'

 _'Crap!'_ Kaldur could have sworn he felt the Voice's owner slap her own forehead. _'I forgot. Not exactly used to Earth customs. I'm Megan. Megan Morse.'_

She spoke with such innocence that Kaldur caught himself smiling just a bit. 'Kaldur.'

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **Kaguya's POV**_

"Naruto, what's wrong?" I ask as we stealthily make our way past the guards on this floor, the thirtieth, by my count, since we found the hidden stairwell.

"It's nothing. Be quiet." His curt response almost feels like a physical slap but I ignore it and grab onto his shoulder, halting him.

"We go no further until you explain to me what's eating at you."

He turns to glare at me and within his cerulean eyes I see disgust, revulsion and hate, all distilled into tightly leashed rage.

None of which is directed at me.

"Twenty-fifth level." He replies shortly before wrenching himself free of my grasp.

I watch him sprint ahead to scout the uncharted territory ahead of us, cloaked from nearly all forms of sight by the innovative jutsu his godfather created as understanding dawns on me.

The twenty-fifth level was one where depraved acts were committed, acts no sane human should ever subject another being to. Torture and pains of all kinds were afflicted onto living, sentient beings and the agonizing screams of the ones unfortunate to have been held there echoed throughout that much too extensive level continuously.

When we made our way through that level, I had wondered how Naruto was able to simply ignore everything around him and keep moving forward. Now, I realize that he was simply burying whatever emotions seeing such had triggered, lashing them back with pure willpower.

"The path's clear to the next level." His voice is channeled to me via the ingenious seal tags he attached to my ear. "I'm waiting."

Hearing how terse he sounds, I can only wonder what he will do to whoever runs this place...

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

"Got anything?" Raven asked as she glanced around the elevator, her left hand subconsciously going up to rub at her right elbow.

"Not yet, sorry." Robin replied as his fingers moved tapped on the holo-keyboard projected from his gloved arm. An ultra-thin micro-filament cable linked the glove to a tiny access hole on the elevator's control panel. "Of all fifty-two sublevels, this one has the most powerful locks. I can break the encryption but I'll need a bit more time."

"Hopefully the damned door doesn't open to a squadron of aliens with their guns pointed at us." Kid Flash huffed from where he stood, leaning against the wall with is arms crossed. He seemed more cross at the lack of action than anything else.

Raven closed her eyes and accessed the well of energy within her as Arella had taught her. "Let me see if I can find anything outside."

Slowly, taking her time to remain alert to her physical surroundings, she allowed her energy to merge with that of the world around her, greatly expanding her sensory sphere. She'd been unable to utilize this technique when she was outside the building because of her own limited skill with it.

The first things she noticed amongst the abundance of life forces within the complex were the significantly larger life forces within the sublevels, five to be exact. There were two on this level, one of which seemed more active than the other.

Two more were a level above them, the largest by far amongst the five and the third largest moving together like they were a unit.

The last was making its way down a chute almost parallel to that of the elevator but on the opposite end of the building.

Which led to the second thing she noticed.

"Azarath..." She gasped softly, the discovery being staggering enough to nearly break her concentration.

"What is it?" With her awareness of her physical surroundings, she felt (rather than actually seeing) Kid Flash push off the wall to stand a little bit closer to the door.

"This place... It's huge!" She barely managed to keep a tenuous connection to her expanded senses as she battled with the scale of the building. Fifty-two sublevels spreading out to cover an almost kilometer wide expanse at its widest point.

"Raven?" Robin called out. "I'm in their system. We need to know if there are any of those creatures waiting for us."

"Right. On it." She focused on the space outside the elevator. "Nothing."

"Alright. Give me a second."

Suddenly, she felt an intrusion on her sensory sphere. Instinctively, she attempted to push back on the intrusive feeling only to sense it latch on to her energy. The only reason she didn't instantly try to cut it off was that she sensed no malicious intent. In all honesty, it seemed to want to help.

That didn't mean she trusted it, though, particularly when a trace of its path led back to the largest life force in the complex. A further trace, one she was certain the owner of the life force allowed, showed that a similar connection linked the owner with the fourth largest life force in the building.

"Raven, let's go." Robin's voice pulled her back into her body and she nodded to him, prompting him to open the door and let them out.

She kept an eye on the foreign energy linked to hers, prepared to sever it if she caught so much as a wisp of negativity from it.

— **~ ~—**

Alright people! Chap 3 is now up. Sorry for the delay though, between exams and family life and work I just go horribly slow.

Even worse, my muse pretty much deserted me on this chap! She simply decided that the chap was long enough and wouldn't allow me to add anything more.

On a positive note, chap 4 is already moving along nicely. I'm already prepping for the fight between Blockbuster, the Team and a third party.

Now, a few more review responses:

Guest Oct 15: Sorry mate. It most definitely is a Naruto x Kaguya fic. He may be her descendant but the DNA link is so watered down it isn't even funny. Maybe if Naruto was a Senju I'd be a tad bothered. Also, being the 'reincarnation' of her grandson isn't so much of a reason considering that Naruto only shares chakra and ideal with Asura. My opinions though...

Guest Oct 10: Damn... Now I'm considering not even naming them and simply sticking with the unimaginative but highly popular 'the Team'. You, sir or ma, present one hell of a convincing statement.

As regards the jutsu: Sorry, I just flow better writing the techniques in whatever language necessary, be it Japanese or esoteric. Anyways, here's a glossary of all techniques used in this story to date in order of appearance:

Kamui- Divine Judgement

Dōryūdan- Earth Dragon Bullet

Katon: Nezumi Kidama- Fire Style: Mouse Hairball

Fūton: Atsugai- Wind Style: Pressure Damage

Banshō Tennin- Almighty Pull (Dumbed down)

Shinra Tensei- Almighty Push (Dumbed down)

Wakusei Rasengan- Planetary Spiralling Sphere

Ōdama Rasengan- Big Ball Spiralling Sphere

Shikotsumyaku- Dead Bone Pulse

Yōton: Jinsoku Yōtama- Lava Style: Rapid Fire Lava Bullets (Alternately: Godspeed Lava Bullets)

Yōton: Yōken- Lava Style: Lava Fist

Chōgata Inu Inu no Me- Extra Large Puppy Dog Eyes

Visios Obscurum- Obscured Sight (Raven's Spell)

 **Feb 16 2018**

 **-** POV markers still…


	4. Chapter 4

Yo. Next chap here.

While writing this chapter, I decided to use modified versions of three characters that appear. Age, typical behavior, looks and few other things have been shifted about to fit, particularly because bringing them in directly from their own show would result in a more the 'Young Adult' feel of the Young Justice series,

And Yes! Holly is my favorite character from the Artemis Fowl series, hence my slipping her in. Hell, the Artemis Fowl reference included the locked door opening trick. It was based off Mulch using his beard hair to open the micro-keyhole in Arty's safe, way back in book one.

Hope you guys enjoy it.

 _ **Chapter 4**_

 _ **Sumdac Labs, Washington DC**_

 _'Well, that's the last one of them.'_ Megan said to Kaldur as the lead scientist in the room slumped. _'Get going.'_

'On it.' His movements were swift yet sure, sprinting past the unconscious bodies sprawled on the floor toward the transparent tank in the center of the room. Pulling his right arm back, he uncorked a killer right straight that tore right through the reinforced fiberglass like it was wet toilet paper. The moment he pulled his arm back, the water gushed out, flooding the room.

He didn't care. Pulling out a water bearer, he stuck his arm back into the hole, ignoring the scratchy feeling of the jagged fiberglass on his skin as he connected to the water in the tank. For a few seconds, nothing happened, the room quiet but for the sloshing sounds of the water.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACKLE! BOOM!

The tank exploded, the water draining out of it in that singular burst, glass and water flying out at near bullet speeds.

Kaldur staggered back, his water bearer dropping into the water swirling around his knees as he tried to reel in his frenzied thought processes.

Being of the Warrior class, he had a limit to how much water he could command. Going above that limit practically splintered his thoughts, causing one hell of a headache.

 _'Relax...'_ Megan's voice drifted through the chaos as he felt his mind begin to knit itself back in order. _'I've got this. It wouldn't be cool for you to go through this much stress only to not be able to save your friend.'_

'Very... Very true...' Kaldur thought back, feeling his thoughts unscramble enough to get that out. 'Thank you Megan.'

"No problem. Here, you dropped this."

The Atlantean blinked. He could have sworn that he'd just heard Megan's voice with his ears and not his mind. Perhaps his thoughts weren't as straightened out as he'd assumed?

"Umm Kaldur?" He not only heard her but felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He immediately glanced over his shoulders to see...

A green skinned girl of around his age wearing a sleek black suit hovering over the water.

"Megan?"

"Yup! That's me!" Her face lit up in a bright smile that assured him that this really was the owner of the voice in his head. "Oh, here! I found this floating around."

In her outstretched hand was his water bearer. "Thank you. I didn't realize that I had dropped it."

"No problem! Now, let's get your friend outta here."

Wading through the water, Kaldur moved onto the metal base of the now destroyed tank and bent over to pick out the half-submerged body of his friend and mentor, lifting her in a bridal carry.

"Holly? Holly answer me!" Kaldur looked confused as he shook the woman in his arms. She was awake. Her eyes were clear, not glassy and every other indicator showed that she was awake. So why wasn't she answering? "Megan, can you help me look inside her mind? See if there's anything wrong with her."

"Sure." She replied. Closing her eyes, she focused on the mind before her and gently began probing it.

Kaldur, meanwhile, was watching every inch of the room within his sightline, wondering exactly why they had not yet been swamped by whatever security measures the Sumdac group had put in place. Surely they couldn't be so foolhardy as to believe that they were untouchable, could they?

"Megan-"

"Kaldur-"

Both paused and Kaldur inclined his head, indicating that she should go first.

"Alright, um, first off, she's okay. She's just in a sort of protective coma."

"So why does she look like she's awake?"

"That's the interesting thing. She seems to have split off a part of her subconscious mind to take control of her body, kind of like an-"

"Auto-pilot." The male Atlantean nodded as the memory of the technique his blond friend had used filtered back into his mind. "It's a technique some of us learn to help when being tortured."

"Oh..." Megan trailed off, leaving Kaldur to wonder why she seemed so impressed. "Well, I'm not skilled enough to pull her out of this so I'll get in contact with my uncle. Meanwhile, you wanted to tell me something?"

The slight worry that had just begun to loosen up wound itself tighter in his gut. "Yes. Can you scan for any strange thoughts around us?"

"Sure!" She smiled brightly before it dimmed a bit. "Though I do have a range so I may not be accurate."

"I'll take what you've got." He replied simply.

When she opened her eyes, the decidedly scared look deep within them instantly had all his senses at full alert.

"We aren't the only ones here..."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

"Damn... We aren't the only ones in here..." The young man stated as he snuck into the security room.

Another man, more muscular than the lanky one glanced around before settling a glare on one of his partners for the night. "The hell do you mean?"

"Exactly that." The first one replied as he instantly blitzed past the Labs' Security System Firewall and began pulling up records, logs and files. "Someone, more precisely, another unit has infiltrated this building."

"That shouldn't be possible." A clipped, feminine voice cut in. "We specifically chose today due to the slight chink in the security of this place. The odds of another team also deciding on infiltrating today are-"

"Pretty even considering that we decided on today." The lanky boy interrupted. "They certainly are organized."

"Explain." The female stated.

"At least three teams worked this job. The first temporarily halted their systems from outside, allowing a second team to slip in via the roof and take out Sleeping Beauty here-" he gestured toward the unconscious human rolled underneath the workstation, "-allowing all teams to move in without bothering too much about security. I can't decipher much more but utilizing such cooperation, they've managed to head into the sublevels."

"How about our package? Has it been tampered with?" She asked.

"Not as far as I can detect."

"Then we proceed as planned."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

'The average teenager would be at home right now. Sleeping perhaps, or maybe playing video games. The really exceptional ones would be out on the town. No, not me, I just had to be linked to the Speed Force.

'God, I love my life.'

Raven noticed the wide grin on the speedster's face as they stuck close to Robin, making their way past various, yet ominous and definitely alien pods, and jabbed his ribs with an elbow. "Watch it. Your grin could attract unnecessary attention."

"Sorry." He whispered back as he tried to reign in his wayward emotions. But dammit! How many teenagers got to have this much fun?

"Quiet you two!" Robin chided from up front. "We could easily get caught by your yapping."

"Umm... you three don't belong here."

And then, they were caught.

Gotta love the universe's sense of irony.

A quick glance up had Dick narrowing his eyes. 'This guy... he looks like a younger Superman...'

"Well done, Kr." The sound of another voice, accompanied by footsteps, had all three teenagers on their feet and ready to move. The newcomer, well newcomers really, were odd. They all had striking resemblances to the first alien creature they'd seen. However, these were much more muscular as well as seemingly being more armored.

They also had weird creatures on their shoulders that, apparently, possessed the power of speech.

"Take them to the holding cells." The one in the lead, and probably the leader, ordered. "Ask Master if they are to be cloned."

Robin's first impulse was to get back and plan a way out of this mess.

Raven's was to blast her foes with some pretty powerful energy spells she knew.

Kid Flash really wanted to speed blitz all of the aliens, well, except the boy. He looked kinda lost.

These choices were taken from them as they suddenly collapsed, warding off unconsciousness by sheer willpower.

Wally fell first.

Training with the Dark Knight gave Dick stronger mental fortitude but he could only last so long.

Raven, just before she submitted, felt the strange energy latching onto hers release a slight pop.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **Kaguya's POV**_

Ahead of me, he freezes, every muscles, sinew and tendon pulled taut as something comes to his attention. A moment later, he slips into a shadowy alcove and I do the same.

We're pressed back to front, mine being the back pressed into his front. It's a warm, comfortable place, one I wouldn't mind staying in.

A slight shake of my head dispels _that_ thought.

"The one I told you of, the girl with the other two boys? She's in trouble."

And his warm breath tickling my ear brings it _right_ back.

"I'll... I'll find them." Damnit! Not now, moron! Focus!

I do, and I activate my byakugan, a shade of the power I once had and one I only recently began to truly accept. Color leaks out of the world around me, leaving everything in dichromatic black and white as my sensory sphere expands, going to a complete three hundred and sixty degree view, one of the perks Naruto and Kurama left me with, the complete byakugan, as opposed to the incomplete variant the Hyūga clan he told me of were bestowed with.

The very first thing I notice is his face. Even in black and white he looks...

Back to what I was _supposed_ to be doing...

I see everything on this level and beyond, though I focus my attention on the level we are on right now. Walls are shunted apart with ease, allowing me to narrow down my search to living beings, their internal energies glowing brightly in my perception. 'Wrong shape, wrong shape, way too inert for people that were just captured... hmm, looks like the Princess is heading over that way... and bingo.'

I turn to Naruto, an action that, in this tight alcove has me pressing up a bit more into him... Focus, damnit! "Found them. Three guys instead of two, though two are knocked out, same with the girl, and an escort of those brutish creatures we've spotted all around."

"I know the direction." Kami! Only years of training with my mother and aunts helped me stifle that shiver running up my spine. "We'll head toward them now."

"The Princess... she's heading almost opposite us. She's going to find something where she's headed."

"Follow her." He replies softly. "I'll go get the others and we can meet up later.."

"Got it. We'll talk via the tags."

He nods, flashing a brief smile at me before heading toward them.

Kami, why wasn't I a regular girl way back then? I mean, I know various things on politics, regal bearing and everything to do with being a princess but maybe that way, I'd at least have a clue what to do when struck by infatuation!

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

It has been stated before that Donna Troy didn't _exactly_ have abilities _geared toward_ infiltration. That said, her abilities didn't _exactly oppose_ infiltration either.

Yes, superhuman strength, durability and endurance weren't staples of the spy business but then most spies would die to have superhuman speed, agility, senses and flight.

Particularly the last two, which Donna utilized to great length as she moved.

You can't trip a pressure pad while hovering and very few can sneak up on a person who can hear a butterfly's wings cutting through the air.

Now on the final sublevel, Donna slipped past a pair of human guards, heading toward wherever the extensive structure ended. Just as she was to round a corner, the sound of footsteps and voices entered her enhanced range, coming from the direction she was about to walk towards. It sounded like two men were discussing something.

"... is almost there."

"Soon, we'll have a counterpart to Project Kr. Be sure to give my thanks to her. She chose an excellent specimen. Too bad she was rescued."

The first man laughed heartily. "Of course she chose well. She knows the Amazons like no other, even if she isn't one. But rest assured that your thanks will reach her, Des. She's always happy to hear of her customer's satisfaction."

Donna frowned as she thought over the man's words. Two things stood out to her. A non-Amazon that knew all about them? She'd never heard of such. It couldn't have been a traitor either, considering the fact that they hadn't had any of those in ages. Certainly not during Queen Hippolyta's reign. So... who?

Second; these men not only knew who her captors were, they were actively using whatever they'd obtained from torturing her to create something...

Making up her mind to tell Diana after finding out whatever they were creating, she flew straight up and all but plastered herself onto the ceiling just as the men rounded the corner. Sparing a moment to take note of their appearances, she then turned the corner herself, remaining keenly aware of the men until they were out of her range before dropping to hover just above the floor.

People within an enclosed environment, be it a house or a secret underground lab, tended to rarely ever look up. Diana's words that once again prove themselves true.

With the men gone, Donna took her time to observe her surroundings, all her senses pricked. The result matched what she could see visually: she was in a hallway, no hidden chambers or trapdoors anywhere, with a door at the opposite end.

'Judging by the context of their conversation, my guess is that whatever findings they got from me, the results lie behind this door.' With that, she proceeded toward the door.

'Locked...' She cursed mentally as she tried to burn a hole through the offending piece. This was one of those situations where her skill set didn't match her up to infiltration.

Two options lay before her:

Turn around and leave;

Lightly _tap_ on the door and hope alarms didn't blare out.

Guess which choice she made?

'Huh. For something hidden this far down, I really would have expected more from the security systems.' She thought as she hovered into the spacious room. It was pretty bare, honestly. But for a few medical machines, it was basically your average spartan room with a pod in its center.

Donna took a moment to see if she could make heads or tails of the data being recorded by the machines but she soon gave up on that and headed to the pod. It was a cylindrical object, horizontally oriented with about three-quarters of it fabricated from some kind of metal that was both cool and oily when she touched it. The top quarter was made of a transparent material and she glanced in.

Then, she stopped, did a double take and looked back in.

"No way..."

And then the alarms blared.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

"Fuck!" The lanky boy in the green bodysuit swore as the alarms wailed. A quick glance at his handheld computer had him following the first curse with a string of others.

"Gizmo what the hell is wrong?" the girl on the team yelled from her spot underneath the control console that held their package. Her job was to attach an ultrathin microchip onto the primary relay cable so that the techie of their team could shut down the motion sensors around the package, allowing them to grab it without setting off any security measures, a job she couldn't very well perform if said techie was disrupting her concentration.

"Geez, Jinx, you mean beside the wailing alarms?" The now named Jinx was sorely tempted to zap her overly sarcastic teammate with a lightning bolt but she refrained. That would simply distract her further.

"Yes, Giz, I meant beside the wailing alarms."

"We've been made. Someone rebooted the whole system and flushed us out. The delayed alarms all just fired up."

She blinked a bead of sweat out of her eye as she gently nudged a few more cables out of the way to reveal her target. "Why aren't we swamped with their security personnel yet?"

"I piggybacked our Trojans off that of the other team. It'd take careful analysis to prove that another person hacked their systems at all. Is it in?"

"All the way." She slid out from beneath the console. "Go:"

"Already moving." His fingers blurred over his mini-computer as he addressed their third teammate. "Mammoth, grab it!"

The muscular giant grinned brutishly, "Finally!" before smashing the reinforced fiberglass and reaching in for the smallish box within. "Giz"

The lanky techie collected the proffered object and slipped it into his backpack, switching it for a larger box that, upon activation, expanded to form a hoverboard. "Thanks. We need to move, though. Those security personnel you asked about? They're on the move..."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

"Listen Superboy, I know it might seem hard to believe but there is a whole world out there..." Raven smiled at the young man. "A world you might never get to see if you're kept-"

She was interrupted by the blare of alarms and Robin's furious voice cursing out from his pod.

"My hack's been flushed. I'm guessing that they ran a system reboot." He explained before turning to their jailer. "I know this might seem rushed but you have to make up your mind. Help us get out and we help you experience the world or don't and remain here until they decide to let you out."

The teenager was clearly torn as to what decision to make. However, just as he opened his mouth to speak, he was blasted back by something.

Kid Flash, due to his connection to the Speed Force was the only one to really see what just happened and even then, it seemed blurry.

One instant, the clone seemed ready to say something, the next, a dark haired man appeared right in front of him and lashed out with a kick that blew him back.

Then, he headed over to Raven's pod.

"Hey! If you lay a finger on her-"

"If you absolutely must, threaten only those who are threats." The newcomer nonchalantly reached into her unsealed pod and seemingly swiped at the bonds holding her hands up. They fell away instantly and he repeated the process for those as her feet before helping her out of the pod. "You okay?"

"Um... yeah... thanks." Raven seemed just as confused as Robin was so clearly neither of them knew him. So who was this guy? "Um... Who are you?"

He just smirked as he helped Robin out before heading over to Kid Flash。 "Maelstrom. And you?"

"I'm Raven, the guy you're currently helping is Kid Flash and-"

"Robin." said boy identified himself. "What are you doing here?"

"Like you, myself and my friend are investigating this place. We think they might know of how we got here."

"And this friend of yours..." Robin prompted.

"Keeping an eye on things." He stated before glaring at something...

Superboy, apparently, considering the fact that he chose that moment to charge at Maelstrom.

"Superboy wait!" Raven cried, throwing herself into the path of his headstrong charge. The clone hesitated before stopping himself completely. "There's been a small misunderstanding. This-" She gestured at Maelstrom who seemed way too relaxed for someone that was about to be hit by a Superman clone, "is Maelstrom. He just rescued us and only hit you due to misinformation." She then turned to the newcomer. "This is Superboy, a clone of Superboy that wants to experience the world. And we're helping."

The last part was worded like it was a done deal.

"Alright, fine." Maelstrom threw his hands up in mock surrender before turning to Superboy. "Hey. Apologies for hitting first."

The clone glared at him for a few seconds before huffing out a 'no problem'.

Abruptly, the masked man's demeanor changed, shifting from playful to military-like seriousness. "We need to move now. The creatures-"

"Genomorphs." Superboy supplied to which he nodded curtly.

"The genomorphs are moving to block all exits. We have a slight window of opportunity but we have to move now."

Robin and Raven were immediate in their decisions with Kid Flash and Superboy agreeing moments later.

"Follow me." Maelstrom ordered and turned to sprint out of the DNA Harvesting Chamber. "Robin, see if you can get back into their systems. Use their own tech against them; sow confusion where you can. Superboy, stick with Raven and bring up our rear guard. K.F, up front with me. Take out any of those genomorphs you see."

Their response was almost instant, with military-like precision, eliciting an almost imperceptible nod from the raven haired impromptu leader.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

For Donna, the blaring alarms didn't even exist. In fact, very little existed to her at that moment and she was staring right at them.

The pod she'd noticed when she first stepped into this room and its content.

Her.

She was staring at herself.

Not a reflection or a mere image but a totally different being altogether that could... no that WOULD have passed as her. The only reason she even knew this was a real being was that they were dressed differently.

While she was garbed in her skintight black pants with her starfield sleeveless shirt completed by her silver belt and wristbands, the 'her' in the pod was garbed in a one-piece body suit of the purest white and nothing else.

'A clone?' Donna thought, her mind utterly confused by what she was seeing. 'They... I was kidnapped... tortured... just to be cloned? Why?'

It all boiled down to that singular question: Why?

The shock began to drain out of her mind and she took hold of her returning mental faculties to try to at least figure something out.

It was with the return of said mental faculties that she picked up on the presence of another person within the room.

Apparently, the person picked up on this as they pushed off the doorjamb to walk into her line of sight.

It was a tall young woman, probably a year or two older than herself, of slender build. She wore black pants that were looser than the Amazon's, with a plain black long-sleeved turtleneck. The lower half of her face was covered by a dark mask, leaving only her violet eyes uncovered and her black hair was braided into a single plait that fell all the way down to her calves.

These were all noted peripherally, though.

The very first thing Donna consciously noted was the way the woman carried herself.

Hers wasn't the grace of a dancer nor that of a warrior. It was the innate grace only royalty could breed, one that only a child raised amidst royalty and brought up in the ways of the royals themselves could have.

Diana had a bit of that grace, as did she, being of Themyscira's royalty, but theirs leaned more toward that warrior's grace. They were Amazons, after all.

This woman, though... She was royalty, pure and simple.

The entirety of this observation took about as much time as it did for the woman to step into Donna's line of sight and open her mouth to speak:

"Pardon my interruption but we have to leave."

A single black eyebrow arched almost of its own accord. "Pardon me as well for asking but is there any reason why I should leave? And more precisely, leave with you?"

Her lips quirked just a bit as she replied: "Besides the alarms signifying that our presences have been detected?"

'I guess it is true then. No one can beat royalty at sarcasm.' Donna noted dryly. "The alarms signify that we should get out, true, but it has no import on whether I choose to leave with you or not."

"Admittedly." She concedes. "However, I have a friend who is currently attempting to assist a group out of here. If we join up with him and the final group that's a few floors up, our chances of survival increase."

The Amazonian kept her breathing even as she contemplated her choices. Leave with this unknown woman or attempt to find her own way out? And what about the clone? Should it just be left alone or should she attempt to get it out?

"I need to know if you trust me enough to follow me." The woman stated seriously, no trace of the earlier sarcasm in her tone. "My friend is already on the move and I need to meet up with him."

Donna was well and truly torn between choices. She didn't even think much on leaving with the woman but leaving without the clone...

"Let's go." She turned to the woman and nodded decisively. The clone was just that; a clone. She would escape now and tell Diana about it later. Then they would figure out what to do.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

If there was anything that could impress Dick Grayson, AKA Robin, it was efficiency. Whether it was a trait cultivated by his exposure to the Dark Knight or a personal trait that would have shown up regardless of his training with the Bat of Gotham was a moot point.

Efficiency impressed him.

And the man leading them out of the maze of sublevels was one hell of a study in the art of being efficient.

He wasted absolutely no movements as he sprinted down the halls or swiftly dispatched the hordes of genomorphs that had attempted to ambush them at various points in the lower levels. He had swiftly introduced them to his partner, a woman he referred to as 'Shard' while easily apologizing to the other woman, Donna, for an earlier altercation. He had redistributed them easily, having Donna and Superboy up front with himself to fend off any more ambushes, and there had been three so far, while sending Wally to the rear to watch Raven.

Now, in the middle of the little formation, Robin glanced at the woman by his side to confirm what he was seeing on his wrist mounted holo-computer. "Shard, I'm getting visuals of a squad of genomorphs fighting a group of three."

"Is the girl carrying a female floating?"

"Yeah." He nodded as she somehow communicated with Maelstrom up front.

She was amazing. Her ability to see things a great distance away as well as penetrating through most objects was simply astounding.

"Robin, Shard, you guys stay back with Raven and Kid Flash. We'll go ahead and assist the unit being ambushed."

He wanted to argue against it. Why not stay together and attack as one? The answer came to him almost instantly: It was better to have them stay back and guard the entrance, so to speak, than have everyone rush in only to get trapped at both ends.

The entirety of this thought process took less time than two seconds. "Got it. Notify us when you're done."

"Will do."

The three of them pushed off, moving faster than they had before, with Maelstrom and Donna taking the lead while Superboy lagged behind just a bit.

"Whew!" Wally rested his arms on his knees and took a few deep breaths. "Damn this is tiring."

"You're telling me." Raven sighed as she leaned heavily on the wall beside her. "How the hell are those three able to keep moving?"

'This must be another reason he had us split up. K.F must be feeling the burn of having to repeatedly keep the damned genomorphs back and Raven's been dishing out her spells pretty constantly.' The Boy Wonder realized. 'Pushing them further without rest could have burnt them out.'

At that moment, Shard moved down the hallway a bit, looking straight down the path they'd just come through. "Robin, can you see the group of twenty-six... genomorphs, you called them?... about to round that corner?"

He frowned and punched in a series of commands to his computer as Raven and Kid Flash shifted into alert stances. The display showed zilch.

Just as he was about to comment on it, the first of the genomorphs rounded the corner...

SNAP! THUD!

It dropped to the ground, a small, bullet sized hole drilled into its skull.

Shard stood right where she was, one hand lifted almost lazily, a finger pointed at the spot the alien creature's head occupied a scant moment ago.

The only difference between the time the first genomorph poked its head out and the time the last did was that Shard had lifted a second hand to join the first.

As the last body dropped to pile up with the others, she turned to Robin. "Bone shards, fired out of the tip of my fingers at near supersonic speed. Hence the name."

She was referring to a while back, when he'd asked the reason for her name, to which she' replied with an enigmatic, "You'll see."

Well, see he did!

"Let's go. They're done up ahead." And she turned to sprint ahead, leaving the three teens slack jawed.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

"Ah, they finally decide to show up." The raven haired man who had introduced himself as Maelstrom stated. "Kaldur, Megan, Holly, these are the last three of our group."

"Hi!" The cheerful redhead smiled at the newcomers. "I'm Megan, this is Holly-" She gestured to the auburn haired woman by her side before jerking a thumb at the dark skinned boy standing just a bit behind them, "-and that's Kaldur."

The three newcomers introduced themselves before Maelstrom continued speaking: "Megan and Kaldur were just sharing some pertinent information with us. Kaldur, could you please recap?"

The boy nodded. "Basically, during our rescue of Captain Holly Short, Megan discovered the presence of a completely different group, all of whom were in here with the intention to steal something from this facility."

"Megan's got a sensory ability like Shard's only hers locates people by searching for intents." Maelstrom explained.

Robin glanced at the green skinned girl. "Telepathy?"

"Yep!"

"Now that we're all here, we need to alter our formation just a bit: Megan, carrying Captain Short since she's still recovering, Shard and Robin will be in the middle. All three of you are our eyes so you'll need to be shielded. Give constant updates, say, once in three minutes unless it's urgent. Kid Flash, Superboy and Raven will be our rearguard. Since you aren't as fatigued as the others in your unit, Superboy, I'll need you to help relieve the pressure on the other two. Kaldur, You're upfront with the Princess and I. If you begin to feel fatigued drop behind us and call out. We'll cover for you. Intel team, let me know the instant you believe the rearguard need support. I'll head back and Shard can hold the fort for me until things ease out a bit."

Holly was impressed as the group quickly sorted themselves into their positions. Whoever this Maelstrom was, he definitely wasn't a green teenager. No, the young, dark haired man was clearly a commander the likes of Vinyáya and Root.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

Mark Desmond was royally pissed. And, quite honestly, he had very good reason to be.

Not twenty minutes ago, he'd been cheering over the success of project Zon, thinking of the greatness that could be attained if the Plan succeeded.

Now, he was forced before the Board to explain exactly how the facility had been breached and robbed.

And how he'd managed to lose project Kr.

No, pissed didn't even _begin_ to cut it.

He stepped into the Room and the door sealed itself behind him.

The darkness was banished as all eight screens on the wall flickered to life simultaneously.

 _-Desmond, what is going on?-_

He'd have sold his soul just to have the ground open up and swallow him at that moment. Too bad he had the niggling feeling that these beings would simply buy back his soul to inflict agonizing tortures on it. Best to face this head on then.

"The facility was infiltrated." He replied simply.

 _-How?-_ An aristocratic voice asked just as plainly.

For all his long dealings with the Board, he never truly knew if they were human. They'd never once revealed any traces of humanity within save for the slight differences in their speech patterns and their character of their voices.

The first to speak carried a firm tone of authority (though they all did, his seemed the most striking) as well as a hint of wisdom no mere human could have.

The second spoke like a true aristocrat yet there always seemed to be a hint of callousness. He likened it to a blade covered in silk. The dagger could and would rip the silk if it sufficient force was applied.

Back to reality.

"A coordinated group effort. They got in by having a unit temporarily shut down the security systems, allowing a second unit to get in from above to knock out the security personnel in charge of the surveillance systems. When the first team got in, they utilized a complicated hack to take control of our systems. Project Kr's enhanced hearing located a unit and they were captured, alerting us to their infiltration. Upon running a complete system reboot, the presence of a second group entirely was revealed."

 _-Two groups?-_ The third voice was always clipped and the most militaristic, reminiscent of a no nonsense kind of person. A mercenary perhaps. _-Any ideas what they wanted?-_

"Partially, sir." Desmond's reply was hesitant. He took their non-response as a silent decree to continue. "The second group were able to make off with a hard drive. From the inventory, I'm certain it contains all our data on genetic modification and selective evolution and devolution."

 _-Why that?-_ Voice number four: the only female, her tone bearing elements of shrewdness and regal authority. _-Should we be concerned?-_

"Not in the slightest." He replied instantly. "The data on that drive has been rendered all but obsolete considering the parameters I was given to work within."

 _-To you, it is obsolete. To those who took the drive, and more particularly, their sponsors, it is worth a lot.-_ Sibilant, soothing, always assuring until the hidden dagger was buried deep inside his enemies back, that was the feel Desmond always got from the fifth man's voice.

 _-We'll figure that out later.-_ A male voice again, sounding like it had been run through so many digital systems that it sounded more mechanical than human. _-Our main priority should be the intruders.-_

Desmond quickly consulted his handheld array. "Majority of the genomorphs within the facility are converging on their location and are prepared to cut them off before they hit sublevel five. The few remaining are utilizing ambushes and sudden attacks to slow them down and divert them to the last entry leading into sublevel five."

 _-Ensure that they do not escape.-_ The first voice commanded. _-If they prove to be useful, clone them, otherwise, dispose of them thoroughly.-_

For the first time since the beginning of the meeting, Desmond smiled, a sadistic smile that spoke volumes of the pony-tailed man.

It was not a pretty sight.

"It will be as you have ordered."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

"Maelstrom! We need to change routes!" Robin yelled as he hurled explosive batarangs into two of the genomorphs that had somehow managed to get through the thresher Kaldur, Donna and their impromptu leader had created.

"Any reasons?" The raven haired man asked as he struck out with swift, precise strikes, the kunai in his hands (as Robin recognized the weapon of the ninja) flashing out to deliver death blows to the surrounding creatures.

"Yes!" Shard yelled out from the behind him. Due to the continuous flow of battle, she had been unable to risk using her abilities for fear of accidentally hitting the members of this temporary alliance and so was standing with Captain Short. She'd kept her eyes peeled, though, and so was currently the team's major source of intel. "They're herding us toward the large storage space two levels up. They've got an army waiting for us there. Going in would be suicide!"

"Anything behind this wall?"

"Another passage, leading toward the elevator shaft!"

"Superboy, Princess, cover me!" He ordered instantly, whipping around with a glowing orb of energy hovering above his right palm and lashing out at the wall.

While the two he'd called on shifted to provide greater defense for him, the dark haired man pushed at the wall, the blue orb in his hand grinding away at the wall. Then, when it was halfway in, it exploded, blowing a hole clean through the obstruction. "Everyone go! Rearguard first!"

Kid Flash was the first out, zipping past genomorphs as he moved, sending them flying. Then Raven got through, followed by Superboy, Shard, Megan and Captain Short, Robin, Kaldur and Donna.

"We're through! Maelstrom come on!" Donna yelled at the still fighting man.

"Got ya!" He shouted before leaping back, hands moving in a strange manner. Just as he cleared the newly created exit, he breathed out a stream of fire, utterly stunning his partners. Then, as he landed, his hands flashed through more of those strange patterns before being slammed on the ground. In response, a thick wall of earth rose up, plugging the hole they'd just jumped through.

"Alright, Princess, Superboy, head straight for the elevator and rip those doors open. The rest of you, follow them. Shard, with me. We'll be their cover. Move!"

Responding quickly, the Amazon and the Kryptonian clone swiftly moved ahead, the rest of the alliance following as the arrowed toward the elevator.

Just as they reached the elevator, the hallway shook violently, nearly sending the speedster into the ground.

"What the hell!" He yelled as he stabilized himself. "What was that?"

"Get into that elevator shaft!" Maelstrom grunted from behind them, eliciting a look from the ever curious boy.

What he saw sent a shiver of fear down his spine. Some new types of genomorphs, these ones looking like giant gorillas from the _Savage Land!_ comics he'd read had smashed through a wall and were currently engaged in a fight with Maelstrom and Shard.

The guy was a blur of constant motion, dodging hits and slamming the genomorphs with the glowing energy orbs now held in both hands, Shard never far behind as she sniped at the genomorphs' soft spots hitting their eyes, ears, hell she even scored a few shots up some nostrils!

"K.F. We gotta move!" His head snapped back upon hearing Robin's voice to see that Donna and Superboy had ripped the elevator doors open. Raven was already in, as was Megan with Captain Short on her back, both hovering as the Boy Wonder shot a grappling hook to the top of the shaft and climbed up, leaving the line for whoever else would need it.

Hearing a sudden grunt of pain, he glanced back to see the leader of their alliance slumped against a wall, Shard standing over him to face down the approaching beasts.

"Kid Flash, duck!" Donna shouted before twin grunts of effort reached his ears. He was already on the ground by then, having learnt in his days as the Flash's sidekick that no one ever yelled 'Duck' without good reason.

Well, except kids but that was going off track.

Two objects streaked over his head, the wake of their movement strong enough to tug violently at his hair. Half a second later, twin clangs rang out, accompanied by bellows of pain.

"Get to the elevator shaft! Hurry!" Donna stated as she ran past to aid their partners. Heeding to her advice, the speedster ran to the shaft and climbed aboard the line his friend had left, climbing up one pull after the other. Glancing up, he saw the girls flying up, keeping pace with Robin and Kaldur who was using his water swords to climb up in a fair imitation of _Kratos._

Glancing down, he saw Shard and Maelstrom running up the walls of the elevator shaft like it was a horizontal surface, Donna was flying and Superboy pulling himself hand over hand up the line, much like Robin and himself.

'Probably doesn't have flying down yet.' He shrugged and resumed his climb.

"Princess, as soon as we get to the top, blast the door open and punch a path through to the outside. Everyone else follow-"

Maelstrom's command was interrupted by a loud boom echoing from somewhere below.

"Everyone faster! Now!"

The words were barely out of his mouth when one of the elevator doors suddenly blew back, the strength of whatever had hit the door being so great that the metal doors were embedded into the wall of the elevator shaft. A horde of the smaller, simian genomorphs swarmed out of the newly created entry and began a rapid climb up the walls.

"Everybody hold on!" Megan cried before shooting upward and using her powers to pull everyone else in her wake. Up ahead, Donna made it to the top of the shaft and, within two punches, had their exit set.

"Move, move, move!" She urged as she flew back in to grab Robin and Kaldur, hurling them out bodily before flying ahead as Maelstrom had ordered.

Meanwhile, Megan had helped everyone out of the shaft bar Maelstrom who stood firmly attached to the top of the elevator shaft. "Everyone get back!"

As he said this, his hands flashed through those strange motions again, ending with him bringing up two fingers held like a gun to rest beneath his lips. A split-second later, he once again breathed out a torrent of flames that washed down the shaft, incinerating the genomorphs unlucky enough to be in the shaft.

With a quick flip, he landed in the hallway, sprinting to catch up to the rest of the team.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

The wall exploded outward, leaving a cloud of rubble and dust that they immediately cleared.

"Oh man!" Gizmo gasped, doubled over on his hoverboard, arms wrapped around his torso. "We never do this kinda thing again."

"Agreed." Jinx groaned from Mammoth's chest as the brutish looking teen released her from his grip. "Where's Icicle?"

The temperature around them dropped rapidly as the aforementioned, ice-coated teen dropped out of the sky to land beside them. "Here"

"Any external observers?" She asked as she stood.

"None that I could track." He replied, chilly gasps of air escaping his mouth as he spoke.

"Heads up!"

Gizmo's loud warning was accompanied by an explosive retort as the wall directly over the one they'd just come out of was blown outward, a girl in dark clothes and silver wristbands flying right in the midst of the dust cloud, followed instantly by other people, the last of whom was a black haired man that was pushed back by a plume of water expelled from his mouth. Just as the water was cut off, a beam of lightning streamed out of his hands, striking the water and creating a dazzling lightshow accompanied by bellows of pain.

Watching as the man flipped about in the air to land on the ground, barely displacing the grass beneath his feet.

"Gizmo, are those the 'other team' you spoke about?" Jinx asked, desperately resisting the urge to run her hands through her pink streaked raven hair in frustration.

"Unfortunately." She could hear the slight tremor in his voice as he spoke and she wondered if their leader would have punished him for displaying his fear.

"Fuck."

"Maybe we can pass ourselves off as belonging to an organization sent in to investigate‐ "UGH!"

"No, you can't." The raven haired man stated in a tone devoid of any form of emotion, his outstretched arm still encased in the swirling green energy, held exactly in the same spot from which it had temporarily connected with Icicle's face.

Jinx was flabbergasted as she turned back to see the same man standing where he'd first landed, yet also standing right before her. Abruptly, the image behind her vanished and a line of dust jumped into the air.

'F-fast!' She nearly gasped out in shock. They had no one, hellthey had _nothing_ that fast back at the HQ!

"Hmm?" He arched an eyebrow almost mockingly as they struggled against the strange pressure he was exerting on them to stand in defensive positions. "If you want to fight me then I truly do hope you can present a challenge."

Jinx cursed. They'd never dealt with a speedster before and this guy seemed like he could manipulate the elements at least as well as she could. Add onto that the fact that Icicle was seemingly out of the fight and she simply couldn't see a way out of this.

Then, a pseudo-army of genomorphs rushed out of the holes the two teams had created.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

To have said, at this point that Mark Desmond was pissed would have been akin to saying that the sun was hot.

It wasn't a lie, just that it didn't quantify just how hot, after all, to the average four year old, a candle was hot.

Having suffered not one but _two_ simultaneous infiltrations with both infiltrators making off with things that were his while doing as much damage to the facility and destroying his genomorphs was bad. Causing him to be subject to that conversation with the Board was worse.

Exposing Sumdac as they just did had caused him to snap.

The intruders would be dealt with and the vial of serum he'd taken from project Blockbuster would ensure that the chaos these imbecilic children had brought onto them would be returned to order.

"Dubbilex, subdue them." He ordered harshly. There would be no clichéd villain-chat nor would he gloat. Not after all they'd done.

The pale blue alien by his side nodded once before activating its telepathic connection to all the G-gnomes within the facility, dredging up all the available mental energy and bringing it to bear on their foes. A cruel smirk crossed Desmond's lips as he watched them all cry out and sink to their knees, some passing out instantly, others trying to fight off the telepathic assault. They would fail, though. Dubbilex was created using Martian DNA, granting him extremely powerful telepathy. Their struggles were pointless...

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

Megan was scared.

'Megan.'

It wasn't that she'd never been subjected to mental pressures before, as a matter of fact, her uncle started off her training using such methods.

No, she was scared because this was several orders of magnitude more pressing than anything her uncle had ever done.

'Megan...!

And the voices... Maelstrom had asked her to keep light connections to each of the team's members minds, not enough to read their minds, but more as a key to facilitate a faster switch should they require a purely telepathic communication link. Unfortunately, when the genomorphs began their assault, the doors to each person's mind opened some more and she was washed in their agony.

'Megan!'

Abruptly, the pain reduced to a dull throb at the back of her mind and the voices dropped lower and lower until they became an indistinct hubbub somewhere...

The red-haired Martian carefully cracked an eyelid open, afraid of bringing down the brunt of that horrific pressure on her mind again.

'Hey, Megan.' Upon hearing her name, she fully opened her eyes to take in the featureless expanse of white she was stuck in. There was absolutely no feature of any form, not even the line of a distant horizon. Hell, if she couldn't feel the solid surface beneath her feet, she'd have sworn that she was floating.

'Megan...' The voice called again, sounding incredibly strained now and she twisted and turned to find the source.

'Listen, I know... I know you c-can't see me b-but it's Maelstrom...'

"What?" She was baffled. Yeah, she could now identify the voice as his but where was he?

'You're in a mental shelter I created... I'm using myself to take shield the others... I need you to release an omni-di... Omni-directional pulse of mental energy, as po-powerful as you can make it.'

"Won't that hurt you?" The Martian teenager was terrified. He already sounded beat-up but what he was suggesting could kill him!

'Don't worry... Be fine... Just do it on- NGH!' The featureless expanse seemed to ripple as he exclaimed and Megan, guessing what he wanted her to do, began harnessing as much of her mental energy as she could.

"I'll be ready on your mark." She stated through gritted teeth as she began to feel the strain of holding back so much of her built up energy while building up even more.

'Heh... Thanks...'

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

Desmond's mood had taken a sharp upward turn.

Since the telepathic assault had begun, only two of the moronic children seemed to be conscious; a girl with pink streaks in her raven hair that spasmed violently, her prone body kicking about as she tried to fight off wave after wave of mental assault; the other a raven haired young man that had just dropped onto both knees and had a hand to his head, gripping it tightly. Mark's genetically enhanced sight allowed him to see the dark streaks that ran down from his nostrils and out of his nose. Blood.

They were quite interesting, the last two, and already he had plans to see exactly what made them tick just in case it could be added to the Blockbuster serum, but this was getting boring.

"Do we have to utilize such means?" Guardian asked as he nervously watched the teens get mind-raped.

"Of course it is! We don't need them remembering anything!" Desmond snapped irritably. Guardian's moral side was coming out again and without any G-gnomes to put him back under subjection, this could lead to an unnecessary headache. "Dubbilex, enough playing around! Shut them down!"

"Think... heh... Think I'm gonna make it easy?"

Desmond's head turned so fast he nearly tore the muscles in his neck. The raven haired teenager, the one who seemed to be holding out the most, was now on his feet, staggering a bit before he stabilized himself and threw a grin, one twisted by pain probably, at Desmond in his cluster of genomorphs.

"GET! OUTTA! MY! HEAD!"

A pulse of pure mental energy blasted out, a pulse so powerful it felt almost like a physical blow to Desmond and Guardian.

Ignoring the throbbing headache the pulse had left in its wake, the graying man glanced about quickly before screaming in outrage.

The G-gnomes were all scattered on the ground, the mental pulse having lifted and hurled them backwards, their open eyes blank as blood poured out of their ears. Even Dubbilex was not spared, though the alien had, the second it heard the raven haired boy begin to speak, used the other G-gnomes powers to shield itself.

"Heh... That'll teach you to mess with us." The raven haired boy panted, a cocky smirk on his face as the rest of them slowly came to.

"NO! You will NOT leave here alive! Your chaos will be purified even if I have to start project Kr from scratch!" Desmond snarled as he pulled out a syringe filled with a slightly glowing, pale blue liquid. "I will bring order back to this facility! I will not fail the Board!"

With this final declaration, he lifted the syringe up, its hypodermic needle glinting in the moonlight...

And twisted around to plunge it into Guardian's chest.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

"Everyone okay?" Jinx asked as she slowly pushed herself to her knees, feeling nauseated by the simple act. "Giz? Mammoth? Icicle?"

Off to her left, she heard retches and moans and she turned her head, slowly, to see her team techie in a similar position to herself only difference being the dry heaves racking his body.

"I'm okay." Mammoth replied as he stood and then turned to help her up. "Gizmo's not so lucky. Icicle's still out."

The girl sighed in relief as her abilities fully reactivated the instant her feet touched the earth and the nauseating feeling reduced. "Grab them. We can't afford to fight without them. Hell, even with them our chances aren't looking too good."

At that moment, an agonized scream ripped through the air, prompting them to look back at the genomorph horde.

The creatures had all shifted to form a semi-circle, showing a man stepping away from a bulging mass of flesh on the ground. A second scream tore out of the distorted mass of flesh before it settled down to form a cocoon of sorts. Then, a grotesquely misshapen arm punched out of the chrysalis and tore it apart, revealing a blue... thing... whose only true element it shared with humanity was that it was bipedal. Its skin was blue with red lines akin to cracks and its musculature looked more suited to a humanoid rhino.

As if that wasn't bad enough, she noticed that the other group of teenagers had split up half facing the genomorphs, the other half facing her group.

"Don't think we'll make it out without a fight." Mammoth grumbled and, for the first time since she'd met him, she noted that her brutish looking partner didn't seem too eager about the upcoming fight.

Then the brown haired man with the glasses flung out his arm in an all encompassing arc. "Destroy them!"

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

Robin stood together with Kid Flash, Raven and Superboy, facing the second team Megan had alerted them of. Maelstrom had ordered them to concentrate on this group while he took on the genomorphs with the rest of the team except Megan who was to guard Captain Short as well as act as the nexus for their telepathic communications.

"So, you guys seem horrendously outnumbered so I'll be big and ask politely: Can you please surrender?" Robin sighed. Trust Wally to make light of every situation.

The girl shifted her feet a bit as she lifted her hands, palms facing the sky. Beside her, the giant teen stood in a defensive position. "Sorry but I'll have to decline on behalf of my team."

Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning crashed down on them, illuminating their surroundings and carrying on for about ten seconds before disappearing as suddenly as it had shown up.

"Guess we'll have to do this the hard way then." Robin stated, safely ensconced in the magical shield Raven had thrown up.

On an unseen signal, Raven dropped the barrier and took to the skies as Superboy and Wally charged ahead to take on Mammoth while he flung batarangs toward the girl.

The fight was on.

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

Donna was only half-focused on her fight with the genomorphs.

Of course, half of her focus as a trained Amazonian warrior was way too much focus considering the creature she was engaged with were nowhere near trained. Powerful? Yes. Trained? Not remotely.

They only ever attempted to punch her out of the air, a repetitive, unimaginative tatic that involved the large ape-like genomorphs swinging at her with over-extended punches that allowed her to get up close, hammer at their pug-ugly faces repeatedly before backing out again.

The other half of her focus was directed at watching Maelstrom's fight against the blue brute.

It was nothing short of spectacular.

He was a continuously moving whirlwind of pain, diving in close to his opponent to deliver powerful attacks to its gut before reappearing behind it to slash at it swiftly, carving up its back with what seemed to be a wind blade. The only reason the thing was still fighting was its inhuman durability and its seeming ability to not feel pain.

"AH!" She whirled about to see Kaldur flying toward her, his arms still crossed over his face. With a small grunt of effort, she caught him and flew down to set him on his feet.

"Thank you."

"No problem." She shrugged then whipped about to deliver a swift spin kick to the head of a smaller genomorph that had attempted to sneak up on her. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine." He replied. "I got blindsided by a big one."

"Kinda guessed that already." Donna commented. "Well, back to work."

 **Line** **—~ ~—** **Break**

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

For a rat faced bastard, the head of this facility is quite the shrewd character. Compared to someone like Gatō, anyway.

For example, he ditched the whole pointless gloating and went straight for a debilitating attack, he didn't make himself a stupidly large target by 'leading the charge' and he knew how to keep himself away from danger by putting up a meat shield.

The few times I've gotten past the genomorphs and the big blue ape, I've been stalled by the creature he'd called Dubbilex, whose skill with mental attacks is quite the chore, particularly because I've always sucked at defending myself from such attacks and my brain's still reeling from the effort of holding back that mental assault earlier.

Ducking beneath a powerful but horribly telegraphed punch from the blue ape, I decide to kick things up a notch.

Grabbing onto the swinging fist above my head, I attach myself to it with a bit of chakra and swing up to land on the arm, a rasengan forming with little effort in my open palm. Instead of attacking him directly, however, I spring off its arm to crunch the technique into the face of a lumbering genomorph behind it. As the energy orb explodes, I'm pushed up into the air and I activate the Rinnegan.

Sparing a moment to lock on to the twisted energies of the various genomorphs around, I then call up the powers of the Deva path: "Inryoku Satsujin!"

The effect is instant; every genomorph within my field of power is crushed into the ground as the gravity around them quadruples. Interestingly, the blue thing that man created struggles to stand and I'm forced to increase the force on him. He succumbs by the time it hits seven times the force of gravity.

Dropping lightly to the ground, I spare a glance at the others: Robin and his team have knocked out the other group and are now standing guard over them while Kaldur, Donna and Kaguya walk over to join Megan and Captain Short. All in all, everyone's okay.

So, I take my time to walk over to the bastard in charge of this facility. He knows I'm coming for him and he scrabbles back, desperately trying to get away from me.

A short shunshin later, I'm by his side and I lash out with a foot, catching him in the side and hurling him into the air. I grab him by the throat as he comes back down and slam him into the ground. He coughs up a blob of blood but I don't hear any sounds of breakage.

Just like Amachi and Orochimaru, he's been experimenting on himself, using the positive results he obtains from inflicting agony on others to further himself.

I may not usually enjoy torture but I'll make an exception for this scum.

"How does it feel?"

He chokes and coughs, blood splattering the sleeve of my shirt. He won't die yet, though. Atlantean DNA means he can survive longer periods without oxygen than a regular human would.

I look down, straight into his eyes now, looking straight into this vile excuse for a human's soul. "How does it feel to be at the mercy of someone else?"

He's terrified. I can see it in his eyes that he's so _terrified_ of me at the moment.

Good. That will make this next part easier.

I tap into the Indra half of my chakra, sacrificed by Sasuke in a final effort to stop the Jūbi once and for all, and I activate the Mangekyō Sharingan. A second later, I'm in his head and I begin the final phase of my plan.

While I'd initially planned to kill him in the most gruesomely agonizing way possible, I hadn't planned on meeting the leader of this facility out in the open like this, hence my adjustment to the plan. He'd suffer, though. Dear Kami, he'd suffer.

Tsukuyomi _was_ , after all, designed to make its victims suffer.

A rush of memories disrupted my concentration as one of the many clones I'd set up around dispelled itself. Batman and his merry band of Friends had arrived.

Finally. It had been well over an hour since I'd activated the beacon he'd given Kaguya and I

Within the last few seconds I had, I buried the memory of my identity and abilities deep within his mind, leaving his brain to explain how he'd never once got a glimpse of my power set. I didn't want him hunting me down. Then, I made him forget the identities of the rest of the team as well.

That done, I stood up just as the rest of the team came to stand by me.

It was now up to the League...

— **~ ~—**

Done!

Wow, this came out later than I expected. Blame a bout of depression and my muse. The muse reigns supreme, I guess, cause I had one idea that I was working towards and she simply tore it up and had me do something else.

Tell me what you think in reviews.

Inryoku Satsujin- Gravity Killer: The user utilizes the gravity manipulation the Rinnegan grants to increase the force of gravity within an area by varying magnitudes. Naruto, due to access

to the 'hive-like' knowledge of the Rinne-Sharingan, can target specific energy signatures with this technique.

Note: Naruto is NOT as fast as I made him seem when he punched Icicle. He only exceeds sound speeds, IMHO, when he uses Sennin Modō and beyond. What he did there was a combination trick that involved the shunshin, kage bunshin, henge and wind manipulation. Remember, folks, he IS quite the accomplished prankster.

 **Feb 16 2018 Edit**

 **-** POV markers added.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 5**_

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

" _You WILL listen Namikaze!"_

" _Clearly you HAVEN'T been listening Raikage!"_

 _We glare at each other across the table, knowing that neither the piece of furniture nor the distance would be a factor should we decide to leap at each other's throats, a fact that the others positioned around that same table are certainly aware of._

 _My enhanced hearing picks up a few mumbles of 'Troublesome', 'What a drag', and a whispered phrase detailing how things used to be done in the days of a certain eye-patch wearing man,_

 _None of these detract me from me glare-down with my opponent._

 _Yondaime Raikage Ay, also known as Ay of the Raiton no Yoroi and Kirabi's older brother, possibly the only person alive that can match the legendary obstinacy of Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki, a trait that's certainly rearing its ugly head now._

" _You WILL have an escort or you will NEVER step foot on the battlefield again"_

 _I can't help but scoff at that and I notice Baa-chan's head drop into her palms, probably wondering where all those lessons she force-fed me went. I cringe inwardly but I push on. It's high time someone let the damned Raikage understand that the world didn't revolve around his wishes._

" _What? You'll stick Bee and I on yet another deserted island? Why not post a letter to Madara telling him exactly where we are while we're at it?" I opt for a derisive snort this time. "The moment you try to do that you'll switch this war to a battle of attrition, one that we're bound to lose because we're facing off an army of near-immortal shinobi that never run out of chakra and have near-instant regeneration. At that point all they need to do is lay a never ending siege on where ever you stick us in."_

" _And your idea is so great?" He thunders back, his left eyelid twitching violently. "You think gallivanting about without an escort makes you harder to catch?"_

" _Well, when compared to your dumbass idea, hell yeah!"_

" _Raikage-dono, Uzumaki-dono, let's remain calm please." Gaara's calm voice cuts into the terse atmosphere like a wind blade and draws all attention to him. "While I wholeheartedly agree with Uzumaki-dono's opinion that he and Kirabi-san should remain mobile, I also believe Raikage-dono's words also have merit. Charging into the enemy lines with absolutely no form of back-up is akin to daring our foes to do their worst, a dare they undoubtedly will rise to."_

 _I ruthlessly squish the urge to pout at Gaara's words, regardless of the fact that they seem to be making a whole load of sense. "But Bee and I can move significantly faster than most other shinobi and the few who_ _ **can**_ _keep up with us are way too valuable to be stuck with guard duty."_

" _Mifune-dono. As interesting as this has been, I say we all take a break now and reconvene an hour from now." Baa-chan stated simply, effortlessly cutting off my argument. As expected, the old samurai accepts and the meeting is adjourned._

 _I sit back and kick my feet onto the table, watching as the Kages and their escorts file out. I wink at Kurotsuchi as she walks out last and she nonchalantly flashes the middle finger at me._

" _So, you and the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, huh?" Baa-chan grins as she drops into the chair beside me and her feet join mine on the table. "I wonder what poor Hinata would think?"_

" _It's really doubtful that Hinata-chan would think anything of the fact that I winked at the Old Man's daughter just to piss her off." I reply amidst a yawn. Hinata and I have become friends since Pein destroyed Konoha. It's been slow going due to how our schedules align but we've definitely gotten to the point where she'd barely feel bothered by the little byplay between Kurotsuchi and me._

" _Have you ever thought of why Kages have escorts?" She asks as we watch shinobi from different villages scurrying about to ensure that this base is up and running at a hundred percent._

 _The question throws me off a bit but after a few moments of thought, I reply; "For protection."_

 _She tilts her head just a bit, indicating that I'm right, eliciting a small, happy grin from me._

" _Correct. There's never been a single Kage that couldn't take care of themselves. Take Gaara, Mei and_ _Ōnoki_ _, for instance. Gaara's got his insanely powerful defense, one that can be switched to offense in an instant, Mei's got two bloodlines and she's taken on a jinchūriki and the old man's got a kekkei tōta and he's survived even longer than my sensei." She pauses here, probably reminiscing about Jii-chan for a few moments, before continuing. "Each one of them can take on the very best this world's got to throw at them and there's a damn good chance that they'd make it out alive. Maybe not in the best shape, true, but they certainly can make it out alive. So why would they need an escort?"_

 _I realize that the question isn't rhetorical so I spend a few moments trying to figure it out before coming up with a possible explanation._

" _They can still be defeated. Gaara's sand slows down upon contact with water-"_

" _He's thrown gold dust into the mix so that's a moot point." She counters instantly, destroying that line of argument. "Mei has three out of the five elements under her control, meaning that she's got the advantage over practically any element you throw at her because she can manipulate another element to counter whatever you throw at her and_ _Ōnoki? He's got was more battle smarts than even I do and he's also got three elements down."_

 _My mind whirs at high speed to figure it out. There's no way Kages are invincible. If they were, then the Sandaime Raikage would be alive. Yet he was beaten because… the answer clicked right then. "Kages are not invincible. Even with the points you listed, a well prepared strike force can take out any Kage. A powerful enough area of effect chakra dampening seal will turn it into a taijutsu battle allowing either taijutsu or kenjutsu masters to have a shot at the Kage. It may not be easy, scratch that, it WILL not be easy but if sheer numbers could take out the Sandaime Raikage with full access to his jutsu, then adding in a chakra dampening seal is overkill, even for shinobi."_

" _Very intelligent answer." She smiles at me. "Glad to see that you absorbed at least some of the stuff we taught you."_

 _A prt of me wants to go into a hissy fit but I've got to admit that she's got a point. Since the time I returned to the village with Ero-sennin, herself, Shizune-nee-chan and Sakura-chan all took it upon themselves to 'further my education'. And, after a certain mission involving me horribly failing at obtaining intel for a client, Anko threw her lot in with them as did Hinata after we became friends._

 _Kiba and the guys ensured that they were around as much as possible during those learning sessions to, as dog-boy put it, 'support a brother'. Yeah, right. Damned assholes laughed at me every step of the way._

" _Kages have escorts to provide a secondary layer of protection. Typically, our escorts include a sensor that usually doubles as our long-range communicator, a close range fighter, could be a kenjutsu or a taijutsu user and an unknown."_

" _Unknown?"_

 _She nods. "An unknown is someone who's not even listed in the bingo book. Having an unknown can easily render most enemy plans obsolete because they have no clue what the unknown's capabilities are and its possible effects on their plans."_

 _Realization gradually dawns on me. "So that's why the most famous shinobi under a Kage's command are rarely ever used as escorts! Their skills will most likely be well known, rendering their effectiveness void by escort standards."_

" _It's also why all five of us brought a separate unit to act as our diplomatic escorts. In our system, one must always show the strength of the village while never revealing its secrets, hence the diplomatic escorts being some of our most powerful and renowned shinobi."_

 _Well damn… I had no idea…_

" _But what's all this gotta do with me?"I ask, not seeing the relevance of discussing… escorts…_

 _The answer to my own question hits me just as she reaches out to slap the back of my head. "Really?"_

" _Sorry! It just clicked! But I don't-"_

 _Another, slightly more painful, hit connects with the back of my skull. "Naruto you're one of the two most important elements in this war. If you get captured, it's all over. There'd be nothing left to fight for."_

 _I knew precisely what the unspoken part of that statement was: Because we'd all be enslaved eternally._

" _Baa-chan… I can't have an escort! I'd have to split my attention between helping them and fighting!"_

" _Do you really think we'd send our most important resources into battle without worthy backup?" She asks with an arched eyebrow. "Suna's already offered their most skilled sealing experts and Kiri have given us a list of swordsmen, most of whom already border on hitting Chōjūrō's level. Iwa and Kumo have already offered us their shinobi and I've personally vetted four Yamanaka, one of whom has been trained by Inoichi to utilize a technique that allows the two instantaneous communications regardless of distance."_

" _Why are you so hung up on the whole 'escort' thing anyways?" I snap at her. "I'll be facing quite possibly the greatest threats since the creation of our world! I cannot afford to hold back anything while I'm fighting so there's no way I can have an escort Baa-chan… I can't risk other people's lives for my own…"_

 _She doesn't reply immediately, instead, she stares at the wall as her eyes take on a glassy look. It seems my words triggered some sort of recall._

" _Jiraiya said the same thing…" I turn to her so fast my neck cricks. "Well, he didn't call me Baa-chan, I'd have ripped his balls off for that, but just before he left for Ame… Did you know that you and Kakashi were to work with him on that mission?" My heart stops for a moment there. I was meant to have followed Ero-sennin on that ill-fated mission? But… I never had a clue… Why didn't I follow? "We fought that night. He was all prepped for his journey when I caught him. One of the last things he said to me before he left was that he didn't want to risk anyone's life for his own…"_

 _My head was spinning as I tried to take all this in… Why? Why the hell did that old pervert reject Baa-chan's idea? He didn't want to risk my life? Did he really think I couldn't take care of myself…?_

Tch, typical human mind…

' _Don't even start with your snarky comments Kurama!' I snap at him. What, does being a bijū desensitize him to the pain of others?_

Seeing as how you're being a huge hypocrite, I think I actually deserve to make these snarky comments. _He replies._ _Wait. I'm being a hypocrite?_ You are so upset by that pervert's death and the newly revealed circumstances around said death that you can't see yourself towing the exact same path.

' _Oh hell no! I'm-'_

Different? How? Have you even stopped to think of the effects of your denial on that blonde Senju? She's lost everything, brat. Her brother, her first love, her sensei and her best friend. Only you and that dark haired medic are keeping her mind together, you more than her apprentice. You restored her faith in herself, you showed her out of the darkness that threatened to destroy her. Now you're pushing her sanity to the brink by denying her the one thing that'll settle her mind when you're beyond her reach. You were so blinded by the death of your sensei that you never noticed the abject pain she suffered at the loss of her teammate and best friend.

 _I want to reply, to throw some furious words at my very own demon to shut him up… but I can't. Because he is so startlingly right._

 _Through all that's been going on since Ero-sennin's death, I've never actually thought of its effect on anyone but myself._

 _Kami, I've been such a fool…_

" _Baa-chan… I…" I steeled myself up and looked her straight in the eyes. There would be no half-assing this. She needed me to accept this escort thing and I'd had enough of my own selfishness. I'd gladly swallow my pride to set her heart at ease. "I'll do it. I accept the escort proposition…"_

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

My brain, and my senses, were on full alert before I'd even known that I was awake, a habit formed during my months on the hunt with Kirabi and our, now late, escort after that one time a shirozetsu infiltrated our camp.

I could hear the soft sounds of another person breathing a few feet to my right, accompanied by the drip-splat sound of water falling and impacting the ground. Lack of noticeable shifts in the air currents meant that whosoever's presence had roused my consciousness had not moved and the person carried the scent of honeysuckle and jasmine.

Upon opening my eyes, I relaxed. It was Kaguya, standing in the doorway, holding on to a glass of cold water and looking decidedly hesitant about something. Well, that's odd considering that she's been showing herself as one of the most confident people I've ever known.  
A quick decision to help her out has me greeting her and inquiring as to what she's looking for here.

"Good morning Naruto-ku- uh… I brought this over when I heard you tossing and turning. Th- thought you might n-need it…"

Holy Ramen above! Kaguya Ōtsusuki stammering? Was the world coming to an end?

"Thanks." I smile at her as I take the glass for a long, not to mention refreshing, drink and I think I'm seeing a light dusting of pink on her cheeks but I simply blame the light beams of sunrise filtering through my screened window. With a lazy yawn, I lay back in my bed, idly noting the fact that I'm bare from the waist up. Huh, maybe that's the reason for the blush? I discard that thought with a mental snort. Like she wouldn't have seen much better than me.

"So, Naruto-"

"Yo, Kaguya-"

She seemed to want me to go first but I wagged a finger at her. "Ladies first. Baa-chan taught me better than I let her think she did."

"Oh… well, I just wanted to ask what your dreams were about. I mean, you don't have to tell me or anything… but… I'd like it if you did."

"Ah, that." Really? That was all she wanted to say yet she sounded so hesitant? Looks like Hinata inherited both the byakugan _and_ a distilled form of Kaguya's hesitant side. Who would have guessed?

"Well it was honestly more of reliving old memories, really. It was of my first time actually being placed in full command of a group of people."

She shifts about a bit until I hand her a pillow which she receives with a smile. Setting it on her laps, she hunches forward, resting her chin in her palms and her elbows on the pillow. Huh. I was thinking she'd have reclined or something. "What was it like? Your first time?"

Somehow, though he's dead and I'm a whole dimension away from his grave, I felt Ero-sennin grin the way he always did whenever he heard something with a sexual connotation. Hmph. Perv.

"Well, it started off with me being my usual obstinate self and not wanting to have an escort team…" I spend the next couple of minutes describing the events that led to that particular memory as well as the memory itself. "Finally, Kirabi and I had an escort of six people: Kurogane Gajeel, a shinobi from Iwa possessing a bloodline that allowed him to manipulate metals, Tohsaka Rin, a Kiri kunoichi that was, interestingly, skilled fire manipulation and her own brand of taijutsu that allowed her to move and strike out with speeds and force nearly equal to Gai and Lee with their weights halfway off. She was also our back-up sealer. The next two, Rangiku Matsumoto and Hisagi Shūhei, were blade masters from Kumo, Matsu with her 'Haineko' and Hisagi's with his 'Kazeshini'. Levy-chan, from Suna was our seal mistress-slash-medic and Yamanaka Gowther was our sensor and communications link to the rest of the Grand Shinobi Alliance."  
"Must have been interesting…"

"Ha… Yeah, I guess it was…" I sure as hell wasn't going to tell her how Hisagi had died covering our asses the one time a shirozetsu had managed to infiltrate the camp while I was conked out or how Levy had lost the use of her legs when Kabuto had ambushed us, getting close by using senjutsu to conceal himself. No, even though she puts up a good front, I can still see that she struggles at times to come to terms with the fact that it had been the Shinjū, and not she that had caused all those disasters. "Alright, so last night, you said you had a theory as to why neither you nor I have the 'Rabbit horns' thingy popping outta our forehead. Spill."

"You do know you shouldn't be ordering your princess about don't you?" She seems to be returning to the Kaguya I've gotten used to as she glares at me with a faux-reprimanding stare. "However, I suppose I should just chalk it up to excitement."

I just arch an eyebrow.

"Fine, jeez, don't be such a spoilsport." She huffs before slipping into what I've termed lecture mode. "My theory is that neither of us shows any of the traits of the Avatar of the Shinjū because neither of us has its full power."

That doesn't sound right. "Sasuke transferred all of Indra's chakra into me and Kurama stripped that thing of all its power."

"Indeed, you did. However, at its peak, the Avatar of the Shinjū had, not just the power of the Rinne-Sharingan combined with the vitality of its chakra-empowered body. No, it had those _combined_ with the devastating durability of the Dead-Bone Pulse, the disintegration abilities of the Ash Killing Bones and the sight granted by the byakugan. Since then, no one has ever the same amount of power the Shinjū possessed. While you have more that ninety percent of its power, you split a shard of it into me, leaving me with the Shikotsumyaku and the byakugan."

"Well, thank Kami I split off that bit of power into you. I can't imagine myself with a pair of horns."

"I can, considering all you've told me of your bullish stubbornness."

I hit her with a playful punch. "Meanie."

"You do know that hitting your princess can be taken as an act of treason." She states in her imperial voice.

"Oh, mercy, your grace! Forgive this humble fool!" I cry out with my hands clasped before me.

"Glad to see you know what you are." She smirks and I realize that I fell into that neatly.

"Alright, I set myself up there," Her grin widens at my admission of defeat… "Of course, I'm still waiting for you to prepare breakfast for our guests."

The way her face cycles between emotions is simply hilarious. Then, she settles on a determined look.

"Hmph. I'll have you all begging for seconds after all, how hard can it be?"

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 _ **Kaguya's POV**_

Apparently, cooking is _significantly_ harder than I'd ever thought it could be. I'm just glad that I took Naruto's advice to start off with breakfast for just the two of us before moving on to the meal for our expected guests or I'd be more embarrassed than I am right now. And it is really embarrassing to hear the damned blond idiot laughing his guts out at all my efforts.

"Gah, fine" I yell in frustration as the stinging pain of hot oil splashing onto my skin hits me once again. "I give up!"

I honestly don't think he can hear me, considering that he's just too busy laughing, holding his belly and making me feel worse. Prick.

Okay, fine, maybe it's not so much the act of laughing as it is the laughter itself that's making me feel worse. And not worse in a bad way, I meant the good kind of 'feeling worse.' It's just so bloody deep and rumbling and rich and warm and comfortable…

Great. Why don't we add 'can write a hundred word essay about Naruto's laugh' to my growing skill set?

"Enough!" I try to sound composed and disapproving but even to my own ears I sound like a frustrated child. "Kami-dammit Naruto, get to cooking already."

Alright, alright…" he wheezes as he staggers over to join me by the cooker. "I'll get right on it. After all, how hard can it be?"

I don't even attempt a reply this time and I head over to the sink to clean myself up. As the water flows over my hands, I regain enough mental clarity to think coherently again. Apparently, enough time has passed that he's no longer guffawing and instead gotten himself busy.

Finally.

"It's not good to waste anything, hime." His voice shocks me out of whatever pleasant trance I was about to fall into as he reaches past me to turn off the tap. "Even a princess should know that."

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" I hiss through gritted teeth as he heads over to the worktop, laughing all the way.

"Oh, jeez, hime, calm down! Besides, if you'd had your guard up, then you wouldn't have been scared by a simple look-see, hmm?"

It takes a few moments for me to rein in my wildly erratic heart rate and look at him. He looks completely at ease with himself, as at home cutting up vegetables as he is on the battlefield.

"So, Naruto," I turn to him as I lean back on the sink. "Why exactly did you agree to this in the first place? Them coming over, I mean."

"Oh, that. Well, I just felt it'd help them trust us. I mean, it isn't like we've got anything to hide from them and by the time we've got things to hide, I plan to have moved beyond requiring our Bat-themed friend's aid."

Ah, yes, Naruto's plans. I'm not sure if it's just lack of trust or the way he was brought up but he's been very vague about them. All I know is that between the clones he's been sending off to the temporarily relocated Sumdac facility and the information he ripped out of that scientist, he's been slowly laying the groundwork for whatever the plans are.

"So, have you made any sense of the information you pulled out of the scientist?"

He shook his head as he moved over to the cooker. "Partially. Learning the intricacies of using powers linked Indra's significantly harder for me since I'm linked to Asura."

"That sounds oddly confusing."

"Ah… I haven't said anything about that… Well, Hagoromo, your son, had two kids of his own; Indra, older, very mature and serious outlook on life; and Asura, younger with a really carefree attitude. Close to the end of his life, Hagoromo split his abilities and powers between them both: Indra got more of his shrewd intellect and his dōjutsu, Asura, on the other hand, got all of his pops' physical attributes plus a shit ton of chakra.

"Time-skip to when Sasuke and I fought the Jūbi's avatar, Sasuke realized that it was slowly overpowering him and would soon be defeated so he ripped a hole through the aether to create a temporary dimension of his own where he transferred as much of his yin chakra as possible into me to allow me access the Indra half of my heritage…"

I'm dead certain that he continued talking from that point but I was hung up on a simple phrase: 'the Indra half of my heritage…'

Well fuck. Now I've somehow managed to develop feelings for a guy who's not only technically younger than me but who's also my grandson, multiple generations removed.

Why can't my life simply remain uncomplicated?

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

"You sure this is it?"

"Yes Wally, this is it."

"You sure about that, Dick? Cause the last time you were certain until Alfred opened the door."

"Great. You too, Rachael." The shortest of the three sighed with a slump of his shoulders. "Look, all I knew was that two safe houses were currently active. How was I to know that Alfred was in one of them?"

"Well if you're certain that this is it then-" Wally broke off mid statement to deliver a quick tattoo of knocks to the door they were all standing in front of. "-we should knock."

Rachael- Raven- threw a wary glance at the brunette. "You ever considered doing things _after_ allowing your brain to process the full details, and possible repercussions?"

"He would if he had a brain to think of the other details." Dick threw in with a snicker.

The speedster scowled at his friend. "Oh sure bird brain, laugh it up. Your name really suits you, dick."

Rachael just rolled her eyes. "Could you two be anymore immature-"

"You know, you guys have to up your environmental awareness." The three teenagers jumped at the sound of the voice, turning as they landed to see a tall lightly tanned blond standing in the now open doorway.

Dick was the first to recover from the shock, replacing it with a not-quite-concealed critical eye. "I take it you're Maelstrom?"

The blond nodded before pointing at each one of them, calling out their names as he went. "Robin, Kid Flash and Raven, my, well, our guests. Come in."

The three glanced at each other before Wally shrugged and led the way the building.

"So, where's your really hot girlfriend?" Wally asked as they walked into a well furnished living room.

Rachael sighed and Dick facepalmed. "Just ignore him."

"Yeah, his mouth tends to run off…" She added, leaving Wally's jaw agape.

The blond just laughed and scratched the back of his head. "I wouldn't call her my girlfriend. As to where she is… well, let's start off with introductions, shall we?"

Wally's hand shot up like cork. "Me first!"

"Well alright then. Kid Flash, then Robin and Raven. I'll go last."

"Okay, I'm Wally West, aka Kid Flash! Just your one-of-a-kind, really awesome, intelligent, charming, speed-"

"We get it, ya blowhard!" Dick cut in brusquely. "I'm Dick. Dick Grayson. Trained by-"

"And Wally's the blowhard." Rachael shook her head. "I'm Raven but I go by Rachael Roth when not sneaking into various facilities."

"Ah, so you guys sneak into secure facilities on a regular basis?" Maelstrom asked.

Wally shrugged. "I tend to just zip right in. Dick's the really sneaky one."

"And Rachael just teleports you in or something?"

Dick's eyes narrowed again. "We could tell you… But you'd have to cough up some information about yourself."

To Dick's surprise, the blond just threw his head back and laughed. "You're good, Dick. Rule one of chatting with a stranger: be on alert, you never know when you're subtly being pumped for information. If I was alone with either Wally or Rachael, I'd probably have all the information I'd need to build a character profile on both of you."

Dick's narrowed eyes turned into a satisfied smirk. "Ha! You'd both be _owned_ if I wasn't here!"

"Ah, but you still don't know my name." The blond grinned, his cheeks stretching the whisker marks on his cheeks until they gave him an almost vulpine appearance. "Gotcha Dick."

"Ladies and gents, the prodigy of the Bat!" It was Wally's turn to smirk at his friend and he took to it with great joy.

"So what is your name?" Rachael asked, ignoring the victory crows Wally was making.

"And the lady gets the prize for remaining focused." He smiled as he sat back in his chair. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Ah, in your culture, that would be Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto's my first name."

"Wait, you're Japanese?" Dick asked in shock.

"Interestingly, that's pretty much what your mentor said when I told him my name." He sat up. "No, I'm not, though after quite a bit of study into that, I believe my world was largely influenced by the Japanese culture of yours. Hell, we've got the same types of food. Which reminds me, I've got to try the ramen on this world."

Wally looked utterly stumped. "The what now?"

"Ramen." Rachael answered. "It an Asian noodle dish."

Naruto's eyes brightened considerably. "You know of the greatness of ramen?"

"Meh it's okay." She shrugged boredly. "It's nothing special really"

"You shouldn't have said that." A new voice stated from the stairway, drawing all eyes from the gasping and gagging blond. "I'm pretty sure ramen's the only thing that could make him fail to protect me."

"Oh… wow…" Dick breathed. Wally could only nod at the accuracy of his friend's statement.

"Shard?" Rachael asked the white haired lady descending the stairs.

"Kaguya. Ōtsusuki Kaguya."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

"That's the last of it." Cyborg stated as he initiated the final activation sequences for the Mount Justice base. "All systems are now running."

"Excellent." Wonder Woman smiled as she walked into view with Aquaman at her side. "I must say, the base is looking significantly better than the one time we had to use it."

"That's because it was never meant to be a capital command base. It was just one of those back-up bases should we ever be pressed to need one." Batman stated before turning to Cyborg. "Where's Flash? He-"

"Here, sorry." The scarlet speedster apologized as he sped into the room. "I was in their training room. Do we have tech like that in the Watchtower? Because the immersion software I saw is bleeding edge stuff."

"We do." Batman replied. Taking a moment to allow the speedster to regain his breath, he then continued: "There has been a small addition to the supervisors: Red Tornado will be joining them. He'll act as their live-in supervisor."

Cyborg grinned. "Guess I won't be totally lonely then."

The Dark Knight shook his head. "Recent developments, some of which we are about to discuss, have me believing that you'll be needed more on the frontlines. Or, at the very least, straddling the line between covert ops and frontline action."

"By recent developments, you don't mean the whole Cadmus takeover do you?" The Flash asked as he sat up, fully alert.

"Amongst others, yes." The Dark Knight inclined his head. "Care to share your thoughts?"

The Speedster nodded. "The very first thing that jumped at me was the speed and efficiency of the takeover. The Sumdac group could easily have thrown some pretty incredible spin on that story to ensure that they'd come out… well, maybe not smelling like roses but with significantly limited damage done. Second point: We have not come under a single iota of blame."

"And that's a good thing, why?" Aquaman asked.

"It is a point of note." The Amazonian replied. "Every action we have taken to date has come under heavy criticism from many sources, the flag bearer being Senator Finch. In this case, they had every right to criticize us: we charged into a private facility without any prior notice, we disrupted various beneficial research going on, how certain were they that we hadn't simply planted the falsified evidence and then charged in to take the glory under all the smoke. They could have stacked a pile of criticisms that would have crucified us regardless of our efforts to convince them otherwise. That we have not been portrayed in a negative light even once seems absurd."

"And then there's the fact that Cadmus is simply Sumdac in reverse." The Flash continued. "That's one hell of a coincidence. My guesses? Either Sumdac works for Cadmus and sending in our rookie team forced them to move their time table or the reverse, that being that the Cadmus group's just a front for Sumdac, a back-up should the shit hit the fan."

Batman nodded once. "All valid points, particularly when the fact that Cadmus was only started ten years ago but have solid holdings in many countries worldwide, all of which had the highest number of parademon sightings during the war and that sixteen of its twenty-five board members all tied into the monetary trail Cyborg cracked a while back. Of the sixteen, twelve have been spotted in underground auctions, both buying and selling various forms of armaments."

"So, Sumdac's the underling of a much more sinister organization?" Cyborg asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yes." Wonder Woman stated, a small frown creasing her forehead. "And, apparently, they've set their targets squarely on us."

"Right now, I'm really glad we have a splinter group that can take care of the black ops." The Flash stated. "What about that other group they faced? I know they got away but do we have any leads?"

"None so far." Cyborg replied. "However, that wasn't their first gig. It's taking more effort than I anticipated but I will pull up something substantial soon."

"At least the kids gave us a heads up on a possible new player." Flash sighed. "So, when will they get here, anyway?"

"They'll arrive in about an hour." Batman stated. "Kaguya and Naruto will be shown to the Happy Harbor zeta tube point by Robin, Kid Flash and Raven. Meanwhile, I am certain both of you-" he gestured to Wonder Woman and Aquaman, "would have told your protégés exactly how to get here. Martian Manhunter will arrive with his cousin."

"And the clone?" Aquaman asked.

"She's resting in a room she's been allocated. She's adapted well to the world around her but she's certain that she doesn't want to work with the team just yet." Cyborg answered. "She wants to see the world for herself. She promised, though, that she will not use her abilities for anything negative. Says it'd be dishonoring her'sister'. And yes, she considers Donna her sister." He added, answering Wonder Woman's unasked question.

Just then, a holographic image of the Martian popped up in the center of the room.

"Manhunter to Mount. Is there anyone there?"

"Cyborg here, Manhunter." The mecha-human stated as he walked into the hologram's line of sight. "What's your status?"

"We'll touchdown in fifteen minutes. We've picked up Miss Troy as well."

"Understood. The hangar will be prepped for your arrival." Cyborg turned to the rest of the present League members. "Guess it's time to get this show on the road."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

Standing in a sterile, white room deep within the bowels of the Cadmus Dakota Research Center, Mark Desmond waited patiently for the beginning of this meeting, using the opportunity to casually study his newly assigned bodyguard.

Standing somewhere between five feet and five feet three inches, the young woman had bright blonde hair that stretched all the way down to the middle of her back. She was possessed of a classic sort of beauty, with angled cheekbones, dazzling blue eyes and a heart-shaped face.

To the rest of the world, she was just his pretty-faced assistant. No one would ever suspect such an innocent looking girl to be capable of what she was…

At that moment, the lights in the room dimmed as eight holographic images flickered into existence.

As was the norm, all the images appeared simply as blurred white silhouettes, but each belonged to a different personality, as noted by their voices.

" _Desmond."_ The voice came from the voice directly opposite him and he recognized it as the possible leader of these beings.

\"Hail the Light." He bowed as he greeted, noting once again that they neither acknowledged the presence of his appointed assistant nor did they take any offence that she never once seemed to take note of them.

" _How goes the take over?"_ Another voice asked, sounding more clipped and straightforward.

"The transition has been perfectly smooth. Though the plans had to be hastened, there has been no negative impact on the overall operation."

" _And the people's reception to this action?"_ The question came from the only female voice in the group.

"There have been questions asked and various inquiries as to the possibility of other facilities working on similar projects, all of which have been dealt with. Dr Banerji and Dr Crane have been most supportive in this."

" _Excellent."_ The first voice stated calmly. _"All proceeds as planned."_

At this point, Desmond shifted just a bit, so nervous was he that he couldn't maintain the air of complete confidence. "Forgive my impertinence, but I feel I must ask what we are to do as regards the clones we had developed. Both are currently with the League and one has actively decided to follow in his source material's footsteps. And why is the League left out of the spotlight? Surely there are those who-"

" _Who believe that the League were once again operating above the law?"_ A sibilant voice asked before laughing softly. _"There certainly are. They have been silenced, with good reason."_

"But-'

" _Question not our objectives, Desmond."_ The first voice warned brusquely. _"You are not indispensable."_

" _Besides, wouldn't it be better if we surprised you every once in a while?"_ A significantly more childish voice yet unspeakably cruel asked with a perverse giggle.

" _As regards the genomorphs, well, suffice it to say that they have their own purposes."_ A cold, mechanical voice grated out.

" _And that is enough for now. Proceed with your assignments as planned and take the next base. The tools required will be delivered within a week."_ The first voice commanded. _"Should there be any new development deemed of importance to you, you will receive."_

Then, as one, all the holographic portals flickered out of existence, the room returning to its stark whiteness.

"Come on." He gestured to his assistant as he walked out through the hole that had just irised open. "We need to contact our sources within the serpent's nest. Time for the next stage…"

 _Sorry that this is coming late. I could give a ton of excuses but I'll just say that I'm sorry again._

 _I know the chapter may feel a bit filler-ish and slow but it was a necessary hurdle to cross so we can move into the next phase. Things should get a lot more exciting from here on out._

 _To those who won't just let it go about the first person POV that I'm sticking with for Naruto and Kaguya, well I'll try to explain: this is not the vanilla Naruto that you're used to in canon. He's fresh out of a war, stuck in a whole new dimension with the girl that tried to kill him and there are a bunch of people who basically want him policed. Oh, and his mindset's been subtly altered by a whole new infusion of yin chakra._

 _Kaguya, on the other hand, has been trapped in her own mind and is now coming to terms with the fact that atrocities had been committed in her name while developing feelings for the guy who saved her and trying to figure out if she's simply attracted to him because she is or if it's a hero worship thing._

 _The 1p POV is because I feel I need to show some of their mental workings._

 _To the GenericWriter… the Holly Short thing was just a thing I did so I wouldn't have to create an OC for what amounts to a cameo. Her character fit what I wanted so I utilized her character. Se finit._

 _The whole 'I'm repeating the YJ plotline: yes I am. Why? Because, in the grand scheme of things, Naruto's arrival hasn't changed much of anything on a universal scale. Bats would still have assembled the YJ team whether he was there or not. Plus, it's not even a faithful 'rinse and repeat' plotline. The whole 'merging of the DC animated movie universe' means there have already been changes to the plotline. Spot them out, will ya?_

 _Think that's it._

 _Thanks for sticking with me. I'll continue soon enough bar anything else cropping up._

 _Read and Review Please._

 _The Ethereal Lord._


	6. Chapter 6

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 6**_

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

It's always interesting to see how different this place has become, considering the fact that I had gotten really fond of considering myself the only person who could easily say that I had my mind in the sewers without thinking of anything remotely dirty.

Now, though, as I connect my mind with that of one of my clones deep in my mindscape, the place has changed. What was once a dilapidated sewer system is now an immense meadow that extends as far as my eyes can see.

A porthole flickers into existence in front of me and within it, all I see is white. Then, a hand moves across it and begins writing. A few seconds later, there's a message written in an old ANBU code. Roughly translated, it means 'Standing by.'

It's interesting how the rinnegan works the connection between me and my clones. While my clones can't use the rinnegan to access any of the paths, as that seems to require an actual flesh-and-blood body, the shared vision works perfectly and I've been using it to communicate with the few undercover clones I've got in a similar manner as to now.

With barely any effort, I create a roll of parchment and a pen and write my response: 'What news?'

'Mark Desmond remains as Cadmus head. Banerji and Crane given new identities while old replaced by genomorph clones.'

'As expected. More?'

'Yes. Desmond has new assistant.'

Only my knowledge of the fact that these clones wouldn't joke around stops me from rolling my eyes. 'And?'

'Strange girl. Exceedingly quiet. Has access to the Forbidden room. Also; sense that she has potent connection to nature.'

Okay, that is something worth watching out for. Why does Mark Desmond have an assistant that\has access to the one place he won't let even his head of security get into? And a possible connection to nature? Does that mean she's the presence I noticed a few days ago in Gotham? Or is she someone else?

'Continue observations. Report in if anything new comes up.'

'Understood.'

The porthole flickers out and I dematerialize my writing materials.

Things were going as I'd expected since the Cadmus take over. With Banerji and Crane given new identities, their genomorph clones would undoubtedly suffer some mishap that would lead to the loss of their 'lives'. A quick and easy way of disposing the baggage while keeping the resources. Add on the fact that Desmond's new assistant seemed to be a whole lot more than a paper pusher and the unknown function of the Forbidden Room, as my disguised clone had dubbed it, and that was a disaster waiting to happen.

Just as I was getting deeper into my thoughts, I felt a strange sensation running down my spine. It took a few seconds for me to realize that it was the feeling of water being trickled down my back, Kaguya's favorite way of dragging me out of my own head.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds as I evened my breathing before opening them again to find myself staring at a blank wall.

"Back?" She asks as she sits on the bed beside me. "Or do I need to get you any wetter?"

"Thought it was the guys that got the girls wet?" The statement was out of my mouth almost reflexively.

Kaguya's blush makes Hinata's embarrassed face look pale. "A-apparently your godfather's perverted influences run deeper than you imagined."

"Sorry. It came out faster than my brain could process it." My hand subconsciously finds its way to the back of my head as I get re-accustomed to my environment. We're in the room we've been allocated, deep within the bowels of the mountain. It's a pretty Spartan place with only two beds, a pair of chairs and a table and a single light bulb. According to Cyborg, the Mountain was originally created as a last-resort base, created so the League could have a place to lay their heads should something like the War happen again with them on the back foot.

To me, it's a great idea to have multiple bases. For all my hatred of the snaky bastard, Orochimaru taught me this lesson the hard way when my team and I were asked to destroy all his bases as we moved. We'd destroyed a hundred of them, ranging from simple shacks to noble mansions before he joined the Grand Shinobi Alliance and even then he revealed that he had at least sixty more.

"So, aside from your 'reflexive' perverted comments, we're called upstairs." Kaguya muttered. Guess she's still a tad bothered by my comment. Gonna have to keep Ero-Naruto in check. "The Black Canary just returned and she wants to meet the team."

I can't help but sigh as we get out of the bed. Time to get this phase of my new life started.

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

 _ **Mount Justice; Briefing Room**_

"Glad to see you've finally joined us." Canary smiled as the two most mysterious members of the new team joined them at the central meeting point. "We were just about to begin our test training session."

"Yo!" The blond shinobi smiled as he walked over to and between Kaguya and Raven. "Sorry for missing the introductions, I was busy."

"No problem." The blonde heroine smiled back. "Now, let's head down a few levels and get to the training field."

As if on cue, the circular spot they were gathered on glowed light gold before beginning a slow descent.

"The training field we will be using utilizes various forms of tech to create an immersive environment that responds to user actions. Within it, we can create insane situations and toss you right into them in order to evaluate various aspects of your training. At selected moments, Martian Manhunter will be around to link you into the system to ensure that you do not consciously remember that it is, in fact, a simulation. It will be the location of all our physical training bar those that I believe should be conducted elsewhere."

A that moment, the platform stopped moving and, as the glow of the platform dimmed, the lights around them brightened until they were able to see that they were in a large, perfectly spherical room.

"S-02. Activate training model 4-cityscape 01." She stated clearly.

For the first few seconds, nothing happened. Then, the room abruptly went dark.

"Umm… was that supposed to happen?" Wally asked as he stared around in the darkness.

"Hold on. I see lights." Raven stated, and true to her words, pinpricks of lights appeared in the distance, growing brighter as the darkness lifted to form images…

"By Hera!" Donna breathed as the darkness cleared. "It's a city! We're in a city."

"Yes we are." The Canary smiled at their awed expressions. 'Hmm… neither Kaguya nor Naruto seem particularly surprised. 'Does that mean they are used to this type of tech?' Deciding to speak with the two later, she thrust the thought out of her mind. "This is the first level of the cityscape. The infrastructures to run a city are all present but there are no living beings here. Hence the noticeable lack of transportation."

"So the higher the level of the simulation, the more realistic it is?" Kaldur asked.

"Yes. Maybe for our next training session, I'll take you to the highest levels." Canary stated as her demeanor became more serious. "For today, though, the exercise will be simple: Take out as many of your teammates as possible without getting knocked out yourself."

Naruto, Canary noted, just smirked and Kaguya's eyes narrowed just a bit while the rest of the team looked completely lost.

"As a team specializing in black ops, you will be expected to be able to get into places we can't because of our popularity. You will be expected to track down and possibly even apprehend targets without getting caught as that would blow your cover. As such, you must learn how to move about stealthily, keeping an eye out for your target while also ensuring that you are not being trailed. Hence today's exercise."

"Essentially you're saying that we should hunt down the others but not get caught."Dick smirked. "Piece of cake."

"Umm, not sure if you remember this but you have absolutely no superpowers." Wally pointed out. "I mean, you're not Batman."

"That doesn't mean he'll be the first to get picked off." Raven stated coolly. "In fact, my money's on you not lasting ten minutes."

The Black Canary stepped back to watch as the rest of her charges barring Naruto and Kaguya were slowly but surely being pulled into the heated argument. It would take a while, undoubtedly, to forge them into a cohesive unit but she knew they had the potential. All she had to do was force them to realize it. Catching Naruto's eye, she jerked her head to the side, silently asking for a meeting. She would definitely help the team along. In the meantime, however, she'd see if she could dive a bit deeper into the minds of the two enigmas.

"Aren't you going to join them?" She asked as she joined them at an outdoor table in full view of the intersection with the squabbling teens. "I'd have thought that you'd have a few opinions as to who the last person standing would be."

"While I'm no slouch at physical combat, I will unashamedly admit that Naruto's much better at such things than I." The white haired young lady replied with a soft smile. "if this were a more political issue, however…"

"in such issues, she's quite clearly my superior." In stark contrast to the prim and proper seating posture of his charge, the blond bodyguard was slouched in a chair, looking the very definition of lazy.

An excellent act of misdirection, The Canary admitted to herself. While he _seemed_ completely at ease, she noted that his eyes had never stopped flitting all around, his muscles were tense, though not tightly enough for the unskilled eye to pick out, his hands were drumming absently on the table, ready to be used at the slightest notice and his outstretched feet were positioned under the table such that, should the situation call for it, he could easily flip it up to be used as a barricade.

She'd known that he'd be good from the little she'd seen of his fighting prowess and the conversations she'd had with the Dark Knight but damn! For someone so young, he was definitely highly skilled.

"Done yet?" He sounded amused and broke out a small grin at her slightly befuddled look. "I was asking if you were done analyzing my posture."

She couldn't stop her jaw from dropping slightly.

"Don't look so surprised." He laughed. "While I'm not a telepath like M'gann, I have been trained, to an almost instinctive level, to analyze people within the first few seconds of being in their presence a detail that, as Kaguya's bodyguard, I must be observant of at all times, even if there's so much as a shift in posture. Knowing all that, it wasn't remotely difficult for me to spot you performing the same checks on me." Quite abruptly, his grin took on a more mischievous quality, becoming eerily similar to that of the few foxes she'd seen in zoos as a child. "Or were you simply ogling my perfect, manly figure?"

For a split second, the blonde heroine wasn't certain how to take such a comment from him, until she heard Kaguya snort.

"Of course you'd wish you pitifully frail figure would be manly."

Watching him go from super-confident to blustering mess with a well aimed jab was enough to help her regain her senses and she smiled back at him. "What, Naruto, you can dish but can't take it? I'm sorely disappointed."

She assured herself that it was NOT vindictive joy that she felt at watching him sink lower into despair. It absolutely was NOT.

"Didn't we have something else we were talking about?" He asked with a scowl and, being the mature woman she was, Canary decided to let it go …

"Cop out." …after a final jab. "So, any opinions on them?"

"On who your final winner will be?' He rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, I'd say the first to go will be M'gann. While her powers might make her really difficult to sneak up on, any one of Raven, Dick or Wally could easily take her out, either by attacking faster than she can react or by attacking from a distance. Next will then be Wally, eliminated by Dick, followed by Raven, taken out by either the Princess or Dick. Simply put, my money is on Dick, Donna and Kaldur being the final three with Superboy being the wild card."

Canary was impressed. She'd come to exactly the same conclusion herself. "Why leave Superboy as the wild card?"

"Because I've seen what Superman can do and if he's anything like the original then his only challenger would be Donna." The blond offworlder shrugged. "And even then, she'd only be a threat because she's got more experience at combat."

"Impressive. That was exactly the same conclusion I'd reached." She admitted. "And if yourself and Kaguya were to be put in?"

"Kaguya." He stated decisively. "Not that I can't kick her ass, pretty though it may be," he ducked beneath a swift and well aimed slap to the back of his skull, "but there are very few situations that would warrant me attacking her."

The heroine arched an eyebrow. "So you think you could defeat all the others?"

He just snorted. "You really want me to answer that?"

She locked gazes with him as every trace of mirth vanished from her features. "Yes."

He just leaned back and smiled. "Well, in that case, I 'd have to say that, so long as all their nerve clusters remain in the same positions as I know, then yes, I can defeat each and every one of them."

Her eyes narrowed. "You're insinuating that you can take them all out with nothing beyond martial arts?"

"Yes."

A slow, confident smile spread across her face. "I'll be the judge of that." She stood up and turned to the still squabbling teens. "It's time to see if we were right about them."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 _ **Kaguya's POV**_

"I think I like her." He smiles as we watch the woman walk toward the rest of the team and I turn to him.

"Do you mind explaining what just happened?" I'll admit, readily in fact, that I did not truly understand his actions just now. Why reveal so much about his skills and knowledge? Why not just answer her questions directly without dropping so many hints?

"Ah, I thought you'd have figured it out." He leans back in his chair again and smiles. "You're probably wondering why I dropped so many hints about so many things?"

I nod.

"The answer is that the information I 'inadvertently' dropped was nothing new." He pauses to stretch, my attention completely on him. "So I revealed that I'm skilled at hand to hand combat? They'd have guessed if they reviewed my first appearance here, during that invasion, or if they so much as asked any of their partners. And even _if_ they haven't, I'd have to reveal that sometime during the duration of our stay here. I revealed that I've checked up some of their fights to get a grasp of some of their capabilities? It's what they'd have done and if I acted as though I had no idea of such, they'd think us a tad more dangerous than they currently do. Believe me Kaguya nothing I told them today is of any true importance."

"So everything you did was done to earn their trust?"

"Well, that's the end game." He shrugs. "They've begun."

I turn my attention to the intersection where the gathered members of the team are splitting up, taking off in random directions as fast as they can while the blonde haired woman returns to her seat.

"Let the games begin." She smiles as she takes her seat.

"I'll have to take a pass on watching at the moment." Naruto yawns, earning mine and his fellow blonds' full attention.

"Hmm? Is there something you need to attend to?" She asks.

"Not really, just feeling a tad sleepy." He replies before slanting a small grin at the woman. "Wouldn't want you to feel slighted out of a good fight now would I?"

She just laughs confidently. "Oh no, enjoy your little nap. Maybe you'll find a lucky win in your dreams before I bring you crashing back to reality."

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

"Hmm, not bad for a first attempt, I guess…" Canary murmured as she eyed the beaten and bruised forms on the ground before her. "Though none of you managed to impress me in the end, you did go a bit further than I'd expected."

On the ground, Raven retreated further into her cloak as M'gann tried, and failed due to exhaustion, to make herself invisible while Wally and sat back to back. Standing behind them, though looking every bit as haggard were Kaldur, Superboy and Donna.

"Normally, I'd probably consider asking each of you to tell me what you think you did wrong and we'd all go over how to do it better. That way, the team can pick up on alternate strategies and you'd all have similar ideas to be used in the field, promoting team work." The blonde explained. "But for this first run, you can head back upstairs and relax. I'll be joining you shortly."

"What about Kaguya and Naruto?" Raven asked. "They weren't with us during the exercise."

"Indeed." The Black Canary agreed. "They didn't join you because I held them back."

Superboy, who had already unresolved feelings toward the blond of the duo, felt affronted by this. "How come he gets a free pass?"

"Simple: I need to get a personal feel for their combat capabilities. I've worked with the League long enough for me to have a decent idea how the rest of your abilities work but both Naruto and Kaguya are total blank slates. I'll need to gain at least a baseline of their abilities in order to fully plan out team exercises."

"So, where are they?" M'gann asked.

The blonde heroine's words perked up interest from every one standing around her.

"They are preparing for our spar."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

"You just _had_ to blow it out of proportion didn't you?" I ask as I perform a few pre-workout stretches. We're standing opposite each other on the exercise mat in the Mount's gym, surrounded by the rest of the team, their excitement all but palpable.

"What, are you suddenly afraid of getting your butt handed to you in public?" She smirks. "I could take it easy on you if you want, give you a blizzard's chance in hell."

I'm barely able to rein in my tongue before saying something about her ass. Not like I'm afraid or such, but I don't want to seem disrespectful in front of the rest of these brats.

On a totally unrelated side note, I think I've discovered a trans-dimensional constant: ladies that are involved in constant battles must have really hot bodies.

Like I said, unrelated.

"Ready?" she asks as she settles into a pretty basic Muay Thai fighting stance. Something seems off about that though… Ah, found it; it's a false stance, something Bushy Brows-sensei taught me. It involves utilizing one fighting style to hide another. It works well for throwing off an unaware opponent.

Too bad I'm well aware.

I settle into the opening stance of the Nagareru ken, one of the many styles I've studied. "I'm good. Shall we?"

For the next couple of seconds, the rest of the world seems to fade as I lock my attention onto the woman standing in front of me. She's still, almost unnaturally so, giving me a clear cut picture of exactly the kind of person I'm going up against: a pro.

She's off like a shot, coming in with a swinging right fist in a combination between a hook and a cross. It seems almost like a textbook attack until the rest of her body is taken into account.

She's ready for practically any counter, her left hand unclenched, ready to grapple, punch, attack with the knife edge of her palm or any one of a hundred other possible moves. Her legs are spaced perfectly to allow balance and stability even if she has to lean on a foot.

It is, all in all, the perfect opening against someone whose skill level you are uncertain of.

My respect for her rises as I move in, my left hand coming up to push her arm out of the way while my right hand shoots toward her abdomen. A expected, she stops my punch with her free hand and brings up her left foot to attack. I decide to retreat, as my chosen fighting style works better with dodges than blocks. The dance continues for the next few minutes, her continuously aggressive movements countered by my ever flowing, ever dodging defense.

Her attacks are smooth, a harmony of various fighting styles merged into this subtly deadly product. Her blows are deceptive, seeming soft and frail but the displaced air from those attacks have me know that a single hit would open the doorway to a slew of combos that will keep piling on the damage until her foe, me in this case, is down. To the untrained eye, there's no discernible rhythm, it's just a barrage of attacks but I can see the few points when she's vulnerable.

Time to capitalize.

She comes in with an elbow jab to my jaw. From experience, I know that it's just a cover for the body jab coming from the left, using the motion of the elbow jab to power the body shot. Instead of dodging, I step into the attack, allowing the elbow to slam into my jaw while grabbing on to the incoming body shot and pulling her closer. My left hand flies out and delivers two punishing shot to her belly but she's able to break out of my hold before I can further her punishment.

"Damn, you hit like a horse." She groans as she gingerly falls into her stance again.

"You're not bad yourself." I comment as I fall back into my stance."Ready for round two?"

Before blocking out the rest of the world again, I hear murmurs from the rest of the team. Heh, looks like the Canary and I are putting up a hell of a show.

She dives in again, this time starting off with a roundhouse kick that has me wondering exactly how flexible this woman is. I begin my retreat again, leading her around the mat as she lashes out with a swift combo of kicks and punches, utilizing every last joint in her limbs to attack me. Her pattern is much harder to discern, leading me to believe that the first time, she was just testing the waters. As the fight progresses, I realize something: if I'm going to break this rhythm she's set into, I'll have to get beaten like crap. It's the only way to open her incredibly tight defense. She's like a wall of thorns; I'll have to get some skin torn off to get to the rose within.

Fuck.

Just as I prepare to wade into her attacks, the dimmed lights of the room flash twice and a voice booms over the sound system.

-Much as I'd want to see how this ends, Canary, you've got a call from the Green Arrow.-

We back away from each other quickly and I release a sigh of relief.

"Tch, saved by the bell." She actually seems a bit pissed at our fight not being completed. "You must have been terrified, seeing as how you were scurrying about so much."

Or maybe she was just pissed at my delaying tactics?

"Sorry, but I'm not too keen on getting battered by a barrage of combos, even from my beautiful sensei."

"Go get some rest and explore the mountain." She states as she walks away. "We'll continue when I get back."

"Holy crap dude!" Wally, the team's resident speedster is the first to join me on the mat. "You kept up with her! Hell, you hit her!"

"I have to admit, I did not see that coming." Raven adds as the rest of the team catch up.

"It was nothing." I shrug. I could have upped the ante as I'm sure she would have ultimately, but up to that point? It was nothing.

"it most certainly was." Donna tosses in her rebuttal. "I have no doubt that the ill timed call was the only reason you didn't go even further than that."

"Ah, well, being Kaguya's bodyguard involves being the best at what I do and, well, combat falls under that heading."

"You didn't do anything impressive anyway." Superboy grunts with his arms folded across his chest. "All that pansy dancing around isn't really fighting if you can't hit your target."

Wait, what? Oh hell no! Is he _still_ pissed that I kicked him in the chest back at the Sumdac facility? I apologized for that! Well whatever. Fuck him and fuck his anger. I am NOT dealing with some bullshit teenage rivalry.

"So, what do we do now?" M'gann asks and I'm once again struck by just how cute this green-skinned alien girl sounds. It's like listening to incredible naïveté, innocent trust and girl-next-door adorability all rolled up in one.

Kami save me if she ever decides to ask me for something in the future. I can barely imagine the devastation she can wreak if she combines her 'aura of cute' with the original cutesy weapon: the chōgata inu inu no me. The extra large puppy dog eyes.

Cue shudder.

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

 _ **A Week Later**_

"I am so bored!" Wally groaned as he flopped onto the nearest available sofa. "A whole week and we've had nothing to do."

"I can't believe I'm saying this but damn, Wally's right." Dick agreed as he slumped at the foot of the sofa. Walking in behind them were Kaldur, Donna and Raven.

"You've had it easy. At least you could leave." Superboy grunted as he flipped through channels on the TV. "Megan and I have been stuck here with the most fun we've had being 'exploring the mountain.' At least Naruto and Kaguya made it a point to visit daily."

From their sofa, where the blond lounged and Kaguya leaned back on him, said male waved lazily. "We couldn't leave you guys to suffer."

"Hey guys." M'gann smiled as she walked in, holding a tray of cookies that attracted Wally to her faster than sharks to blood. "What are you talking about?"

"Just moaning about how boring the past week's been." He grinned at her as he swiped a cookie. "Can I have one? Thanks! Mmm! These are to die for!"

"Just a tiny detail the rest of us will never get to know if you scarf 'em down faster than we can reach even one!" Dick scowled at the brunette who stuck his tongue out.

"Oh don't worry about that." The Martian teen put in. "I've got more in the oven now."

"Hence my firm belief that the dude that gets with her will be a very lucky bastard." Naruto grinned before wincing as his white haired companion jabbed him in the side. "Ow! What the hell Kaguya?"

"While I'm all up for more cookies, we can't just sit here munching all day." Rachael said around a cookie-filled mouth. "We need to do something."

"How about we explore the vicinity?" Donna suggested much to Superboy's displeasure.

"We've already explored the mountain, what else-"

"Ah, but our vicinity goes beyond the mountain." The Amazon grinned.

Kaldur was the first to respond. "Well, it certainly beats staring at rocks."

"Agreed." Naruto nodded. "Plus, there's a lot to take in, we probably won't finish in a day so there's also a chance for a repeat performance."

As more and more nods of assent rolled in, Wally clapped his hands together loudly. "Right! Let's go meet the neighbors."

"Um, not to rain on anyone's parade but has anyone considered how we're going to get there?" Dick asked. "We're supposed to be a secret group so we can't be seen flying out of what is supposed to be an abandoned base."

"Hello Megan!" M'gann exclaimed with a little head bop. "Uncle J'onn dropped by earlier in the week to drop off the bioship. It's in the hangar right now. Wanna see?"

"If it will help us get off this island? Most definitely." Wally performed a little bow. "Lead the way, my lady."

"M'gann!" Naruto called as they turned to leave. "The cookies in the oven?"

"Yipes!" The girl exclaimed before running back into the kitchen.

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

 _ **Happy Harbor Docks**_

"That was awesome!" Wally shouted gleefully as they walked toward the Happy Harbor port. "I mean it can turn invisible! Like people can't see us when we're flying!"

"We know, Wally we were all there." Rachael groaned.

"So, now that we're here, where do we go first?" Superboy asked.

"Hmm… I'd say either the mall or the arcade." Dick suggested. "Mall's the best choice in our case considering the fact that we're all fresh out of cash."

"Window shopping huh?" Naruto chuckled. "Well, which way to the mall?"

"We'll waltz around till we find it." Dick shrugged. "In the meantime, we need a name for Superboy."

Said kryptionian clone looked affronted. "I have a name, thank you very much."

"Indeed you do." Kaguya stated. "But we cannot be yelling out your moniker when not in the field. We need something more regular, like how we refer to Raven as Rachael when amongst outsiders."

"Kennedy!" Wally yelled out only to receive a frown from the teen. "Uh, any other suggestions?"

"Connor!" M'gann piped up. "We can call you Connor and maybe space my name out so it sounds more like 'Megan'."

"Sounds like someone's been thinking of this for quite a while…" Naruto teased the green skinned girl.

All interactions, however, were halted as simultaneous explosions thundered in the distance.

"Kaguya!" Naruto called out, his head snapping over to see the plumes of smoke that billowed in the distance.

"Explosions came from two spots within the same locale: the harbor power plant." The white haired woman replied instantly. "About five hundred meters north-east."

"Let's move!" Kaldur ordered as he broke out in a dead sprint in the given direction, the rest of the team keeping up with him. "Naruto, Donna, Rachael and Kaguya, work on getting any civilians out of the area. Wally, Dick, Connor and Megan, we'll head straight for the threat and see if we can neutralize it."

"Understood." Donna nodded as herself and her splinter unit proceeded to split off from the main body, heading toward the confused masses on the docks while Kaldur's group went racing for the building where the chaos seemed to be originating from.

"Rachael, do you have any mass immobilization spells we can use to knock these people out?" Naruto asked as they stopped just before bursting out on the docks. "We need to keep our identity hidden."

"I may have something but it will take a moment to work on so many people at once." The resident magic user replied after a swift mental search through her spell index. "Thirty seconds, tops."

"Aright, Kaguya, tick with Rachael, keep an eye out for any attackers since we aren't sure how many we've got to work against." The blond stated as his hair darkened to a deep brown and his eyes changed to a vibrant green. "Donna and I will go out and play crowd control until her spell kicks in and we can clear the vicinity."

"Understood." Kaguya nodded as her byakugan flared to life and the Amazon and the now-brunette Naruto sprinted off.

"Why the cosmetic change?" Donna asked as they vaulted over an overturned car.

"My regular looks tend to be quite memorable." He replied. "While that's a good thing for having alibis, it makes flying beneath the radar a bit of a pain so Kaguya and I were taught how to mask our identities by altering our physical appearance."

"Hence the raven hair at the Sumdac facility."

"Yes. Any idea how to perform crowd control?"

Donna nearly lost her footing as she ran. "Thought you'd know how to do that?"

"Kaguya does. I'm more of the dive-in action guy than the people person." He admitted with a shrug.

"I'll do the talking then." Donna stated as they approached the closest group of people. "You just help me move them."

"Got it."

As it turned out, they didn't need to do anything as the immobilization spell Rachael had chosen, a mass unconsciousness spell, kicked in much sooner than they'd planned, sending the group ahead of them off to la-la land just as Donna opened her mouth.

Naruto, of course, just couldn't let such an excellent opportunity pass him by. "Wow. You can put people to sleep just by opening your mouth. Guess we didn't need Rachael, huh?"

"What? No, I-" Upon seeing the grin on his face, the Amazon scowled and bent to carry two of the collapsed women. "Ass."

"Yes, yours is amazing." The offworlder shot back with a cheeky grin as he hauled two men onto his shoulders. "Let's go drop off these guys and finish clearing up."

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

Wally was not having a good day. No, that was a tad inaccurate; he'd been having a great day right up to the point where the damned tornado had thrown him into the Happy Harbor Power Plant's wall. From that point on, it had been a stormy ride, pun totally intended.

Now, sprawled on the ground, he watched as the android they'd erroneously thought of as being Red Tornado charged up a second, even larger lightning bolt than the one he'd blasted Superboy with.

"Well, _children_ , it's been... well, I'd be lying if I said it was fun so I'll just kill you and get it over with. Maybe I'll get to challenge a real Leaguer as a result. Toodles."

The speedster could only watch as the bolt of raw electrical energy zapped toward himself and his friends, unable to move due to the sprain he'd gotten in his ankle after a wobbly landing.

Then, like a magician, he saw a brown haired teen, wearing a plain blue pair of jeans with a dark orange t-shirt and a scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face, appear right in the path of the lightning bolt before, almost contemptuously, backhanding the energy, sending it flying off in another direction.

'Holy...' The thought trailed off as he felt Megan mentally prod him to be quiet and still.

"You know, it's actually quite callous to attempt to kill a bunch of brats just to further your own poor excuse for a vendetta." The brown haired guy said in an almost lazy drawl. "And a red android with weather manipulating abilities? Imitation might be the best form of flattery but you still manage to make it shoddy."

"And who might you be?" Mr Twister asked, sounding as condescending as it could.

"Just a passerby." The strange teen shrugged. "Oh, by the way, watch your back."

The android spun around just in time to catch a powerful hit to the jaw from a black and silver blur.

Wally's confused thoughts were once again stifled by Megan as he glanced about rapidly, trying to find the source of the hit but seeing nothing.

Meanwhile, up in the air, Mr Twister had finally stabilized himself amidst a whirlwind. "That was quite the powerful hit. I think I'll let this fight go for now to analyze things for a bit. I'll be back though, and I will certainly enjoy a rematch. Maybe you'll be good enough to stress my servomotors more than once."

The swirling winds around the android intensified for a moment before bursting outward violently, revealing that its creator was gone.

"Hey, um-" Megan began haltingly only to be cut off by Connor.

"Oi! Who the hell are you?"

"Hmm?" The brown haired teen turned his head to face them. "Geez, you guys have really bad memory."

It took a few seconds for them to process the sound and tone of the voice.

"Naruto?!"

"Not so loudly." He winced as he helped Kaldur to his feet. "Yeah, it's me."

"What's with the cosmetic change?" Dick asked as he struggled to his feet.

"Same question I asked." Donna stated as she appeared behind Megan and Wally, arms outstretched to help the two up. "Apparently, it's a trick he can use to avoid being noticed in a crowd. What happened to you guys?"

"We got our asses handed to us, that's what!" Connor scowled as he punched the ground in frustration. "And it was all because miss 'I can read people's mind' couldn't do the one thing she's supposed to be good at!"

Naruto, whose features had returned to normal, narrowed his eyes at the sight of the green Martian flinching with each of the kryptonian's words. He was about to speak but was beaten to the punch when Kaldur spoke up.

"Enough Connor!" The Atlantean snapped with a furious glare. "Yes, she made a mistake, leading us to believe that Mr Twister was simply Red Tornado in disguise as a test for us. It was a mistake. I sincerely doubt that even the most powerful telepaths can read the minds of androids. Did she put us on the wrong track? Possibly but we wilfully followed. Not even Dick suspected that Mr Twister was an actual villain. And you never suggested anything different so you and I are as much to blame as she is."

"Yeah Connor, we all got outclassed a bit." Dick stated and placed a hand on the clone's shoulder. "Instead of infighting, we should work together-"

"Don't call me that." He snarled as he twisted away from Dick. "She called me that, none of you even asked if I liked the name. You just assumed I liked it. Well I don't! And I'll just go find that damned android myself and rip it open!"

With that, Superboy kicked off the ground and launched himself into the air, away from the team.

"No." Naruto held on to both Donna and Wally's arms before they could take off after him. "He needs to work off some of that anger himself. Note that he took off in the opposite direction to where Twister went."

"Much as I want to rush after him, I must agree with Naruto." Kaldur said with a tired sigh. "Speaking to him while his mind is clouded by anger will only result in pushing him further away. I believe that he only spoke that way as a result of our shameful defeat at the hands of Mr Twister. In the meantime, Donna, someone else amongst us needs the words of a friend."

He inclined his head toward Megan who had quietly removed herself from the rest of the team and was now on her way to the waterfront.

"I'm on it." The Amazon nodded and went after their hurting friend.

"Naruto, what of Rachael and Kaguya?" Kaldur asked as Dick joined them.

"They're with the civilians we evacuated." The blond replied. "Kaguya noticed the state you guys were in so Donna and I raced over."

"Thanks." Dick said. "We probably wouldn't be here without you."

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

 _ **Mount Justice**_

Watching the interactions of the team via long range cameras hovering around them, were Cyborg and Black Canary.

"Well, that had to sting." Cyborg stated as he played back the scene where Mr Twister had smacked Kaldur and Dick into each other headfirst. "And why exactly did they think that was Tornado?"

"Well, seeing it from their angle, it would seem odd that just as they decided to head out to the mainland, an android with powers matching a known League member with ties to this group would attack the same place they were visiting."

The half-human mulled over the blonde's opinion. "Well, when you put it that way..."

"I'm actually more interested in how easily Naruto and Kaldur operate as the team's leaders." Canary noted. "Both respect each other and are able to take the lead in the place of the other while presenting a unified front. Makes me wonder who the team will finally choose as their leader."

"That does seem interesting." Cyborg conceded. "But what about Superboy?"

The Black Canary sighed. "I'm not too certain what to make of that outburst back there, after all, he is a lab-grown clone with practically no social skills beyond what was likely planted into his mind. At the same time, his outburst was definitely a result of some deep-seated anger."

"Maybe he sees failure as a weakness?" Cyborg suggested. "Batman told me that he seemed unusually disturbed and angered by the fact that he didn't possess flight like Superman does."

"So if he fails at something he believes Superman should succeed at he'll slip back into a rage?" Canary thought it over. "It's definitely possible. Whatever the case, I agree with Naruto that he should be given space to think things over for a while."

"True." Cyborg then sat back as he switched the main screen to run the live feed from the cameras. "Well, I'm gonna keep an eye on them. You should probably get some rest, though. You've had a rough week."

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

 _ **Happy Harbour Docks; Bioship**_

Seated around in the bioship, the team, seated round the temporarily lowered control seat, formulated a plan of attack to deal with the foe they'd faced off against.

"Right now, all that we know for certain is that he utilizes weather manipulation abilities on a scale Red Tornado's never shown." Dick said from his spot in the circle. "So we need to get a scope of his power levels and know how to shut him down."

"You realize that gaining a scope of this thing's power levels will undoubtedly involve fighting, and more importantly, _surviving_ long enough against that thing, right?" Rachael asked sceptically. "No offense, but you guys got your asses beat bad."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence." Wally snapped at the girl. "We've got an idea of what he can do, okay? Dick and Kaldur will think something up so we can kick that foil-box's ass."

"But beyond the threat of this Twister simply defeating you again, there is the fact that any battle against him will undoubtedly put civilians at risk. Donna pointed out. "If we attempt to attack as a team then we will leave them vulnerable but splitting up leaves the team vulnerable."

"So you're saying that we should sidestep the whole 'get a read on his power levels' and go straight to kicking his ass?" Wally asked with a grin. "Even better."

"No." Kaldur shook his head firmly. "Without a decent read on his power levels, whatever we try in a bid to defeat him may simply be overcome by his sheer power output."

"Which ties back to Donna's point: the more power Twister unleashes, the greater the risk for the inhabitants of the area." Naruto pointed out.

"So, we need to discover his power levels and then defeat him while simultaneously preventing the battle from claiming innocent lives." Kaguya summarized. "That's something of a tall order."

"Particularly when you factor in the fact that one of our team members isn't here." Kaldur added.

"Um, I may have an idea." For the first time since her conversation with Donna, Megan finally spoke up.

"Let's hear it Megan." Naruto smiled at the girl encouragingly. "Even if it's not our final plan, your idea will definitely go a long way to help the rest of the team."

"W-well," she began shakily, "I was just thinking, since Mr Twister wants to take on a member of the Justice League, then why don't we give him one?"

"That could work..." Kaldur murmured after a few seconds of thought. "But who do we mimic? More accurately, who _can_ we adequately mimic?"

"How about Black Canary? Or maybe Supergirl?" Dick suggested.

"No, we'll fight fire with fire." Kaguya smiled deviously. "Or, more accurately, wind with wind." Turning to the Martian, she asked, "Can you shape-shift into Red Tornado?"

"Um, no offense, Kaguya, but I'm pretty sure that you were here when she said she couldn't shift into male forms."

"Actually," Naruto interrupted Wally, "she said, and I quote, 'mimicking boys is a lot harder'. My guess is that you can't shift to human male forms because you need a pretty detailed knowledge of the internal workings of a male body. However, Red Tornado is not an organic male, meaning that the change will simply be cosmetic, not intrinsic as you would need in order to shift to a human male."

"It... it could work..." Megan nodded as she thought over the possibility.

Dick and Donna, though, were looking at the blond. "Geez, you certainly seem to have an in-depth knowledge of shape-shifting." The Amazon stated, to which the blond just smiled enigmatically.

"I have an in-depth knowledge of a lot of things."

"Okay, so we have a working plan to deal with Twister," Rachael started with a small frown, "but how do we get the bystanders clear?"

"We'll have to switch things up a bit." Dick answered. "Since Naruto can manipulate the elements, he'll be with Wally, Kaldur and Megan facing off against Twister. Meanwhile, you Donna and I will clear the civilians from the area. You can replicate the spell you used last time, right?"

"Yeah." Rachael nodded thoughtfully. "I'm guessing that Kaguya will be on lookout duty?"

"That would be the best use of my abilities." The white haired woman nodded. "Naruto?"

The blond glanced at his 'charge' and a hidden message seemed to pass between the two and the blond sighed and nodded tiredly, like he'd just been through an all-too-draining argument. "Just alert me should anything happen."

Kaguya's smile had a tinge of victory to it. "Understood."

While Donna and Kaldur seemed to understand what had just transpired between the two, Megan and the others seemed utterly baffled. Just before they could question the situation, however, a four-way view-screen popped up in their middle, showing the same thing on all sides: a dark haired teen wearing a ragged pair of jeans with a plain black muscle shirt stood just beyond the ship's doors, holding what looked like a tattered brown jacket in his hands.

Superboy had returned.

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

 _ **Happy Harbour Mall**_

"So, remind me again why we're continuing our original plans for fun?" Superboy asked as the team waltzed about the mall. "I mean, shouldn't we be keeping an eye out for Twister?"

"Oh that's simple, Con-man," Wally grinned as he checked out some roller-skates on display. After a stuttering apology, the kryptonian clone had confessed that he did like the name Megan had chosen for him, he'd only said what he had in a fit of frustrated rage."We have absolutely no clue when he'll return or if he'll even strike here next. As such, we all agreed that it'd be better if we still had some fun instead of being on edge for something that ultimately mightn't happen."

"Besides, Dick's already infiltrated the CCTV's around here and set up a facial recognition program that's routed through the bioship's computers." Rachael shrugged, her eyes on an antique store. "Should Twister's face get caught by any of the cameras, the bioship will pick it up and, since she can send and receive signals from the ship, transmit a message to Megan."

"Until then, Naruto and I will be at the bookstore." Kaguya informed the group, earning a strangled gasp from her blond companion, to which she turned to him with an arched eyebrow. "Problem?"

"A bookstore?" He whined piteously. "Can't we head to somewhere more fun?"

"Hey, books are fun." The resident magic user piped up, much to the blond's ire. "Matter of fact, I'll be going with you guys. I need to see the possible reading material I'll have during our stay at the island."

At that point, the blond shinobi looked utterly distraught. He couldn't escape because of his obligation to Kaguya but he honestly did not want to get stuck in a boring bookstore.

Then, the Fates smiled on him.

If you could consider the next sequence of events as such.

"Guys! We have a-"

Megan's warning was cut off by a series of ground shaking explosions.

"-match!"

"He's back at the docks." Kaguya reported, her byakugan active. "Right at the waterfront."

"Well, we know the plan." Naruto grinned as his features shifted back to that of the green-eyed brunette. "Let's go!"

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

 _ **Happy Harbour Docks**_

The android hovered over the docks, watching the carnage it had wrought on the area. "Well, this should be enough to attract some attention."

"Well, it's certainly got ours!" A voice yelled from the ground as a large rock flew into its line of sight.

With little more than a twitch, the winds howled around it, snatching the rock and flinging it back to whence it came. A glance downward revealed the presence of three male figures, two of whom he'd handily trashed and the third who'd effortlessly blocked off his final attack. If it could have smirked, it would have.

It still managed to project an aura of smug superiority, though.

"Tch, I expected to finally attract the attention of a big name yet I am continually plagued by you annoying runts."

"We'll try to impress you." The brunette replied calmly as he raised an arm to the sky, palm outstretched before clenching his fist while simultaneously bringing his hand down sharply.

The effect was immediate.

The android was yanked out of the sky like an invisible fist hand latched onto him and pulled him down. Every servomotor within its frame whined in mechanical agony as it tried to stay aloft, the twin turbines and their power cells embedded in its arms working overtime as it unleashed hurricane level winds to push itself back up.

It was all to no avail, the invisible force too powerful to be resisted, sending it plunging into the ground before easing up. The android felt its structure groaning as it struggled to stand itself, its onboard AI struggling to process what had just happened, crossing off possible powers and abilities that could have caused that. Gravity manipulation? It wouldn't explain the deflection of the lightning bolt earlier. Wind manipulation? It had felt not even a whisper of wind around itself. What then? Telekinesis? Possibly. If the brunette could temporarily create constructs of the telekinetic energies then it could have deflected the bolt of electricity earlier that day... Yes, it had to be that. Shunting fifty percent of its sub-processing cores to calculating a method of defeating the brunette, it decided to go on the offensive.

"Insolent brats!" It roared as it channelled power to its turbines, creating a powerful gust of wind that blew back the dark skinned and brunette youths. The raven haired one, with the enhanced strength, it recalled, lowered himself until he was gripping the ground tightly, weathering the initial wind gust before pushing himself off the ground, rocketing toward the android. Unfortunately for the youth, the android had already predicted this course of action and had prepared to hurl the youth out of the sky with a cyclone.

The humans he'd pushed back initially, however, proved to be a threat as the brunette yanked his hand up, throwing the android's arm off target and allowing the charging boy to slam a powerful right straight into its thoracic chest plate. He'd barely flown back two meters before he was grabbed by twin whips of water.

It was a wrong move on their part, though, as the android unleashed high voltage currents of electricity through its entrapped arms. The electricity coursed down the water whips and into the blond boy who grunted with the effort. The android snarled before ramping up the electricity output tenfold. It clearly exceeded the boy's limit and with a grunt, he collapsed, unconscious.

A roar of rage had it hurling itself to the left, just in time to dodge a powerful fist crashing into the ground, cratering the Earth for ten meters around the epicentre.

"Now that could have hurt..." It mused as it picked the boy in a whirlwind and hurled him into a building.

Two down. Now, for that troublesome brunette...

A sudden darkening of the sky had the android glancing up...

CRASH!

Just in time to watch a large yatch slam it into the ground.

"Hah!" The brunette gasped, hands on his knees as the incredible strain of the feat he'd performed took its toll on him. "Time... to get... the guys..."

"Was that supposed to tickle?" The android's voice boomed from the wreckage. A moment later, a violent whirlwind erupted and it rose in its eye, unscathed. "Forgive me; I have no human tactile senses so I must ask to clarify if that was meant to tickle."

The brunette stumbled back, stunned by the fact that his foe had survived. The android once again wished it could smirk.

"Well, you seem afraid. I must commend you, though. Both of your attacks managed to stress my servomotors." The android charged up a bolt of electricity in its hands. "For that, I'll grant you a swift death."

With pin-point accuracy, the bolt was hurled forth, a jagged lance of death that was sure to hit its target.

A rock levitated off the ground and took the hit.

"I believe you asked to face a big name?" A mechanical voice stated behind Twister and, before he could react, he was hurled forward by a powerful blast of wind. Following the motion, Twister turned until it faced its new foe, blasting gusts of wind from its feet to stabilize itself.

"Red Tornado. Honestly, I couldn't have chosen a better Leaguer to embarrass."

"Stop this madness Twister. Damage on property is one thing but going out of your way to kill is unacceptable."

"Then make me stop!" Twister snarled as he charged up two tornadoes and sent them toward Red Tornado.

A single swing of the hand had the two merging into one before being thrust back at Twister at twice the speed. Knowing that his adversary would undoubtedly halt the attack, the Leaguer released a gale of wing toward his adversary following it up by calling up a powerful cyclone that was loaded with debris and flung it at Twister.

With an annoyed grunt, Twister wrested control of the largest attack and used it to plow through the others before letting it dissipate.

"This battle is pointless." Tornado stated calmly. "We are too evenly matched."

"Says the outdated model." Twister scoffed before hurling a quickly charged bolt at his foe faster than he could react. The strike was true, hitting Red Tornado dead center of his chest. "To think I expected better. Now, let's see what lies in those memory cores."

Five thin USB cables extended from Twister's fingertips to attach themselves to the defeated Red Tornado's head. "Accessing memory… What? No memory- UGH!"

The android grunted as it was smacked away by a powerful punch to the abdomen. As it tried to stabilize itself, the android felt the telekinetic force of the brunette grip its lower limbs before crushing them. Unable to stop, the android flew into the water. As it sank, it came face to face with the dark-skinned youth. Shirtless, the black eel tattoos on the boy's skin glowed an ominous blue as his eyes before the water wrapped around him and slingshot him out of the watery depths. Mid air, it was struck by the same black and silver blur that struck him earlier in the day. As it crashed sown, it saw a girl in black pants and a silver top hovering over it. As it attempted to roll over and activate the turbines in its arms but was pinned into the ground by six long slim, bone-white spears.

"Looks like we did it." The brunette walked over with a satisfied grin on his face. "Now, for the big finale. If you would?"

A young redheaded female walked into view and stretched out her hands in a pose eerily similar to that of the brunette when he'd pulled the android out of the sky. Yanking her hands back, she tore off the chest plate to reveal…

"An old geezer?" The strength enhanced male growled as he walked into view. "Then the metal blocked out your ability?"

"Nope." The redhead replied and, without much fanfare, dropped a rock onto the babbling man.

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

I have to admit, watching Megan callously drop a chunk of rock onto a poor, sniveling old man had me reconsidering my opinion of her untainted innocence. I mean, back home, it's almost a common occurrence, killing a downed foe to prevent the whole 'I got stabbed in the back by a guy I thought I'd taken out' detail but seeing Megan do that?

Brr.

Then, I hear the crunch of metals under the rock and I totally understand. I actually admire the creator of the android. Whoever they were, they'd put an android into an android, the second one undoubtedly designed to take advantage of a single moment of a lowered guard on the part of the captors. Pretty smart move.

Of course, the rest of the team are all sounding very pissed having not heard what I had. Oh well, time to break the tension.

I laugh. And not a small giggle or some such bull. No, I _laugh_ as in, a deep, belly shaking laughter. Obviously, all their rage is directed at me but it's just long enough of a reprieve for Megan to regain her confidence.

"And you said you trusted me." She smirks as the rock is lifted to reveal the shattered remains of the second android.

Cue exclamations, realizations and apologies.

While the rest of them are distracted, I scan the ground for the pieces that look most like the memory cores Twister had mentioned. After all, if that was Red Tornado's chosen means of memory storage then Twister shouldn't be too difficult.

A few seconds without success and I activate the rinnegan, simultaneously casting a disguise on my eyes so nothing seems different. Accessing the power of the Shurado, my mind is filled with all sorts of information about the devices littering the ground around me and locating the memory cores is easy. A quick glance around shows me that they are still distracted so I swiftly grab the two cores and slide them into a storage seal designed on the inside of my pants pocket.

Something about this whole thing seems strange. Barely a week after Batman formally creates the team and Happy Harbor, a place almost untouched by the weirdness of this world, suddenly gets attacked by an android that mimics a Leaguer's abilities. A Leaguer that also _happens_ to be one of the team's instructors.

And that's saying nothing of the fact that the android attacked on the same day we decided to take a quick jaunt over to the mainland.

Call me paranoid but that is a LOT of coincidences…

 **LINE** **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

Done! And not even a month after my last post! Whoo, this chapter came pouring out like water outta a broken dam! 10k words!

Hmm… not much to say really.

Wait: I uploaded a challenge fic, my very first one. It's a story titled 'Ideal World' and all the rules are in there. Wanna try it out? Lemme know then.

PS: I got a PM telling me that my grammar sucks. Could you please lemme know if that's a true? Cause if so then I really want to up my game.

Well, Read and Review Please.

The Ethereal Lord.


	7. Chapter 7

Would you believe that this is the third version of this chapter? I swear, my muse bailed on me.

Oh well.

This chapter occurs with the events of 'Drop Zone'occurring in the background, though I will be touched upon.

Let's get going then.

 _ **A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 7**_

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

"Did you get anything?" She asks as I open my eyes.

"Yeah, I got quite a bit out of the cores." I can't believe how tired I sound. I mean, I expected that using the rinnegan'sShurado to obtain the information in the memory cores I stole two days ago would be a bit draining but for me to actually feel tired? Damn.

"Mind sharing?"

"Well, first thing to know is that I don't have a clue who created the damned androids. The person was able to completely erase him or herself from every aspect of the memory cores."

"That or they simply didn't allow the cores to obtain even the slightest shard of information about themselves." Kaguya says. It's a very intelligent way of looking at the problem and it actually has me feeling a lot more cautious of this mysterious inventor and I tell her that.

"It may seem like I'm just expecting the worst but if I remember correctly, that's exactly why you brought me into your secret plans; to give you another perspective."

She's right. Even with the Indra portion of the chakra fully integrating into me and giving me a deeper insight into the darkness within people, it's still beneficial having her here to throw in her own angles. I take a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "So, we're dealing with a person-"

"Or persons."

"Yeah, we could be dealing with people who have the intelligence and the technical know-how to create an android that can battle on the same level as Red Tornado with the processing power to exceed the Leaguer's ability, resulting in a win for our mysterious party. However, whoever did this had to have planned very far in advance, allowing them to safely deploy their weapon with the absolute surety that only Red Tornado would respond."

"However," she continues, "they had to have known of the creation of the team, I mean, how else would it have been able to take on five of them with such utter ease?"

"Whoever designed it, they must have been nearby which would explain why the android left when I showed up; it had no understanding of the stranger's abilities so it was recalled and upgraded with even better processors and predictive AI." I finish summarizing what we currently know of the android that was once Mr Twister. "However, the most disconcerting thing, at least to me, is the purpose of the whole attack. Twister was never meant to obtain Tornado's memories, he was simply designed to corrupt the Leaguer."

"So the designers intended for their android to turn the Leaguer over to their side after which obtaining the memories would have been a breeze." Kaguya frowns. "This was a very well thought out plan. One that inadvertently forced the team to be revealed, if that wasn't a secondary goal from the beginning."

"Damn it." I honestly want to go into a cursing fit but I'm actively restraining myself. "That is exactly what I'd been dreading. Without knowing exactly how dangerous Cadmus is, we can't tell if they had a hand in this and this world has too many companies that are capable of crafting the android that aren't even Cadmus."

"I thought you forced that filthy scum to forget your presence at the Sumdac facility?"

"I did. However, without any knowledge of what goes on in his deeper enclaves, I can't tell if he's got a way to retrieve the memories. My chakra's integrated further and I now know that what I did that night was really crude. The mind has the ability to retrieve lost memories; all that is required is a trigger."

"And you think this trigger may have initiated a recall?"

"It's not impossible."

"Well, that puts a new spin on things."

"You're telling me." I groan as I drop back onto the ground and uncurl my legs from beneath me. Sitting in the lotus for such a long time has definitely put a bit of a strain on my back and doing all this thinking hasn't been any help either. Damn, I just hope some of my new plans will pan out. I might be new to this world but certain principles are trans-dimensional and Jiraiya taught me one of them: it never hurts to have an information network.

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

At the moment, Tika White was wondering exactly how it had come to this.

A few hours ago, she'd been about to take off for the night when her friend Angie had called in, pleading with her to stay back for her shift as she was ill. After a few moans, groans and good-natured insults, she'd agreed and stayed back at CardSharps, manning the bar for her blonde friend until the bar closed and she was off for the night.

Her luck, however, had turned sour when she'd been accosted by some thugs who'd, in a very cliché move, dragged her into an alley.

A random stranger would probably be wondering why she seemed so lucid when on the verge of being raped. She wasn't some psycho bitch that had rape fantasies or some such shit, of that she was certain, but the truth simply was that she'd geared her mind up for this ever since she'd gotten a job in downtown Gotham. For all the hype about the Bat of Gotham, it was a well known fact that the Dark Knight was not some metahuman that could blitz all around like the Flash. Since most of the criminal elements of Gotham attacked the more high-brow areas, the Bat was most often stuck working those areas, leaving the dark alleys for the lesser known scum to operate in. If you were going to work downtown Gotham, you'd have to be prepared to face the scum.

"Excuse me, is everything alright in here?"

Her mental ramblings were broken by the new voice. It seemed like the thugs were also quite pissed judging by the fact that they'd temporarily left her to face this unknown, granting the girl her first look at the person.

Whoever it was had taken advantage of the low lighting in the alley and was standing in such a way that the shadows themselves added a layer of concealment to their features. All that was obvious was that the person wore a hood.

In the time it took her to process these facts, the enigmatic person had dealt with the thugs.

"Um, excuse me miss?"

Tika almost rolled her eyes as she stood up. These hood-wearing vigilante types were all the vogue in downtown Gotham ever since it was discovered that the area wasn't always patrolled by the Dark Knight. It was the 'custom' to thank said vigilantes via hard currency.

"You can drop the whole courtesy act and go straight to saying how much you'd like." She snapped at the 'vigilante' when she noticed him peering a bit too closely."The fuck do you want?!"

"I'm sorry, I just thought… Do you, by any chance, work at CardSharps?" He asked, once again keeping the polite act up.

Tika just folded her arms across her chest. "What, you're gonna hike the price up if I said yes?"

The guy just chuckled, much to her ire, before pulling down the hood, speaking as he did; "I thought I recognized that voice. Hey Tika."

Taken aback for a few seconds by his knowledge of her identity, she gasped when her eyes adjusted to the shadowy darkness allowing her to recognize enough of his features. "Michael!"

"Yeah, it's me." He smiled as he stepped over the bodies strewn across the alley to get to her side, pulling off the grey hoodie as he went. "I'm glad my schedule got bumped a bit."

She huddled into the warmth of the hoodie he draped across her shaking -when did she begin to shake?- shoulders. "What-?"

"Work delayed me a bit so I couldn't drop by at the usual time. I was actually heading up to the bar to see if I'd catch Angie before she closed when I noticed-" he sniffed at the unconscious thugs, "them."

"I… I didn't know you could fight."

"How about we head over to your apartment and I regale you of my mighty combat prowess? I promise to keep the exaggeration to a minimum."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

"I was wondering when you'd get here."

'Michael Waylan' rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he sat beside the figure reclining on the roof of Tika's apartment complex. "Sorry boss but it took a bit longer than I'd anticipated to get Tika to relax. Then it took even more time for her to get to bed."

"Not surprising considering that she nearly went through a pretty traumatizing experience, her jaded outlook notwithstanding." The boss shrugged, though not callously. "How is she?"

"She'll get better with time."

"That's good to know." The boss sighed. "Have you done it?"

'Michael' frowned and shook his head. "Sorry boss. Much as I understand how vital CardSharps is to our growing network considering its links toGotham's underworld, I'm still not comfortable with simply implanting our suggestions into resisting minds. And if I'm uncomfortable, I know you are."

The boss sighed, blowing out a few locks of his blond hair out of his eyes. "True... And the suggestion-implanting technique does work better on an unresisting mind."

"Maybe you should pull a Jiraiya on your targets." A feminine voice put in.

"Tempting as it is to shag every mark on my list, Chloe, I would prefer to avoid that kinda rep."Well fuck you too Michael." The newcomer, 'Chloe', smirked as she sat beside the boss. She was a beautiful woman, created as a fusion of Naruto's feminine transformation and the personality of his old friend Ino bar the whisker marks.

"How goes your work?"

"Jeez boss, no hello?" The girl arched an eyebrow playfully before sitting up straight. "I've got enough sources in various brothels combined with our new auditory input sealing matrices sprinkled about in every room and all about the lounges. Once I'm alerted of any new developments, I'll be able to tap into any conversation and listen in. I've also got enough subordinates to ensure that the chances of missing any Intel is severely diminished."

"And the hiraishin formula?"

"Incorporated into the listening matrices."

"Well look who's going strong." Michael raised an imaginary glass and toasted the blonde female mockingly. "Good going."

Chloe just raised her 'glass'as well. "I'll drink to that and to your incredible incompetence."

"I'm not even in the mood to deal with your squabbling today." The boss sighed tiredly. "I've got a ton of things to keep track off and that's before I head back to the team to explain why I wasn't a part of the mission they're on."

The other two blonds winced. "Dealing with two squabbling blood clones versus dealing with a team of squabbling teenagers. Yeah, we'll shut up now."

"Good. So where's Hatake?"

The slightly pained looks on both clones faces morphed into wide grins as Michael spoke up. "Believe it or not, he's having the time of his life."

"I believe it."The boss snorted."Hegets to work in a fighting ring as the fastest route into the criminal underworld. And he's based off mine and Kakashi's personality template. Of course he'd enjoy his mission."

"Plus, he gets the illustrious job of finding a publisher for Icha Icha." Chloe looked a bit put out at that."So how's the progress on that?"

"He found someone. Isaac Rowling, owner of a small scale publishing firm that's almost been run out of business by a new, larger firm. Kaguya's in talks with him about selling off fifty-nine percent of the company's shares to us with an option to stay on and help run the day-to-day operations."

"And?"

"He's being a tad adamant but only because he doesn't want the company to be known for selling what he called 'soft-porn'. Kaguya's working on him and she guarantees that he'll crack by the end of the day."

"Hmm... I'm guessing that Shiho and Shikamaru have gotten the equipment to set up our digital center?" Michael asked.

" they're sure that the space they've created in their new apartment will be sufficient for the necessary purposes."

Chloe yawned as she got up, stretching as she went. "Well, now that we've been briefed, I'll be off. I've got a busy night ahead. Later."

Michael stared at the beautiful blonde as she leapt off the roof and blended into the shadows."You know, boss, I actually feel bad for you. Should anything happen to her, gaining her memories will be...disconcerting."

"You mean fucking weird." He snorted before waving a hand lazily. "Ah well, I specifically factored in a string of instructions to ensure that more... hands-on experiences of any of the blood clones doesn't make its way into my head."

"Ero-sennin would be ashamed." Michael grinned as he finally stood up."At least keep the girl-on-girl scenes."

"And expose myself to the feeling of being penetrated? Not happening."

"Ah well... Later boss."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

Hatake Kakashi was typically a laid back man with an almost apathetic outlook on life. With his face perpetually stuck in his favorite novel and his perpetuallateness, he struck most as that guy who just wasn't interested in anything.

Until you saw him fight.

A prodigious shinobi of his time, he was a devastating force to behold on the battle field, able to tear through hordes of enemies, often including those with more then even his experience in combat.

And that was prior to him obtaining the infamous sharingan.

It had been a no-brainer, Naruto's decision to base a blood clone off the man's looks with a healthy dose of his personality as well.

Well, the lateness was drastically reduced and only used to annoy certain targets.

Come to think of it, wasn't that Kakashi's modus operandi?

Naruto shrugged from where he sat atop the rafters. He was at the location of 'Kakashi's next fight: a sparsely decorated warehouse that was well populated at the moment with spectators of the final round of of whether the clone won tonight or not, it had already been approached earlier on by the manager about a way to make a little bit on the side. The clone had left the offer hanging till the end of the night, though Naruto didn't know why.

The blond's eyes, enhanced by chakra, roved over the throngs, watching to see if he could connect any of the faces with any names Chloe àprovided for him. 'Angelo Delgado, the actual head of Iceberg Lounge's security team and Marcella Papadopoulos of Channa's Club. Must be a slow night.'

The blond watched as Kakashi strolled into the cage with his face firmly planted in his novel as the announcer introduced him again as the White Fang. Then, just as the announcer started on the challenger, Naruto felt his eyes drawn to a spot a few meters away from the cage. With his enhanced eyesight, he could easily tell that the object of his attention was female as she wore nothing to hide her body. Her face, however, was hidden beneath the shadows of a hood. Something about her seemed familiar, something he wasn't sure of at first.

'Her energy signature feels... Familiar...' He mused as he kept his eyes on the girl. 'Kakashi's currently facing off Donna's clone so that's not it. So where... Ah! The girl on the send team that struck at Sumdac's facility...'

The moment he realized the connection, he focused even more on the girl, noting how she, in turn, never once took her eyes off the cage.

'She's studying the fighters.' Naruto noted with a hint of amusement. 'A potential employer?'

He'd have continued mulling it over if he hadn't, at that moment, received a message via clone memory from Kaguyaasking for his presence at the publishing firm she was working over.

The blond shrugged mentally, deciding that 'Kakashi' would have to deal with the hooded girl as he saw fit.

Just before he teleported to Kaguya's vicinity, the blond sighed, thankful once again for his infamous luck at games of chance. Winning those huge Friday night pots at various casinos had been how he funded his growing information network.

'I'm not even paying people yet or having to worry about transport costs and this STILL costs a lot. Colour me impressed, Ero-sennin, you made it look easy.'

With that final thought, he was gone with only the barest flicker of light signaling that he had even moved.

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

"You're a much better fighter than I expected." Kakashi eye-smiled as he pulled his defeated opponent up. "And I mean no disrespect by that."

The girl laughed tiredly as she allowed him to help her out of the cage amidst cheers and jeers of the audience, equal parts of both directed at her. "Sure sounded like that."

"My bad. I meant that considering the grunts that I've gotten used to going up against in these fights, you were a refreshing breath of an actual challenge. My ribs still hurt from that time you laidinto mewith those kicks and i'm certain I've got a couple of fractures in my arms and shins from blocking you. I never even got to focus on my book when you got going."

A laugh tore itself out of her lips before she could clamp it down and for a minute, she persevered through the pain in her equally beaten chest before it wound down and she could speak, amidst gasps and wheezes. "No funny stuff. Ribs also hurt."

"Sorry about that." The man replied amidst his own snickers as he maneuvered his way to the back room to relax. They'd just crossed the barrier restricting the non-staff entry when the manager of the fights walked up to them.

"Helluva great fight out there tonight you two. Swung about both ways so much it was totally unpredictable who the winner would be."

Kakashi just shrugged as she pushed off him to stand on her own. "Great for you, helluva lot of pain for us." The hidden meaning of that statement was clear: get to the point.

The manager did, extending two envelopes to the fighters, the larger to Kakashi. "Your winnings. Also; you've got a possible client here. Says she's in the market for a spot of guard duty. Top notch payment."

Kakashi turned to the girl who just stared back. Both sighed.

"Lead the way." Kakashi added tiredly. If either of them spent so much as a moment resting, they'd be unavailable till morning, possibly later.

"She's right this way."

A few minutes later, the trio stood before a quartet of red-cloaked people, each with a hood pulled up over their eyes withthe shortest of them standing slightly ahead of the others.

The two parties eyed each other closely, though no overt gestures were made, until the figure at the front spoke in a distinctively feminine tone; "White Fang, Darkstar, I'm glad you chose to hear me out."

"You'll have to forgive our seeming lack of interest." Kakashi yawned tiredly. "We're really tired."

The girl's hood rippled gently as she nodded

"I'll get straight to the point:I nlwould like both of you to help me with a job. Your primary objective will be escort and protection though I may add a few more objectives as we go on."

The masked clone sighed, though a tiny grin formed on his mouth. "Fine. Guess I'll have to complete my book later."

Mission complete.

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

Sirens blared in the distance as the Star City Police raced to the location where, according to an 'anonymous tip', a group of Yakuza enforcers were suck in a block of ice.

On a rooftop three blocks away from the site, the man responsible for their apprehension stood, staring at the lights of the city unflinchingly even as a person walks out of the shadows and wraps their hands around his shoulders.

"Wonder what's got the Emerald Archer looking so lost?"

"Kid issues I'm afraid." The Green Arrow smiled slightly as he slipped an arm round her waist and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Glad you could make it."

"The team's out right now and I wasn't needed back home."Black Canary replied. "So tell me, what's eating at you?"

The Archer sighed. "Like I said, it's the kids, though I definitely shouldn't be calling them that to their faces."

"Artemis and Speedy? What's up with them?"

"To understand... I'll have to start from the beginning.

"You see, ever since we found Roy, he hasn't been himself; it's like he's been consumed with a near compulsive desire to become a member of the League. Honestly, it got to the point where I was wondering if he wouldn't go off on his own."

"Here comes the confusing turn around." The blonde heroine commented.

"Yeah. About a month, maybe month and a half ago, he actually did drop under the radar for a week. Nine days to be precise. When he returned, he seemed changed. Significantly calmer and more focused. You know the first thing he did when he saw me?"

"Something out of character?"

"Not completely so." Arrrow smiled as he shifted her to his front and gently rested his chin in her hair. "He apologized. The same kid that's adamantly stuck to his opinions of Artemis all this time actually apologized for being, in his words, a stupid moron. And right in front of Artemis too."

Canary laughed at the way her partner painted the imagery. "I'm gonna hazard a guess and say that Blondie didn't just let it slip?"

"Her words, if I recall correctly, were 'so glad you finally realized that'. And he laughed at that."

"Definitely a more mature Speedy."

"Wait till you hear this: he explained that his drive to join the League was born out of his fear of being kidnapped again."

"Really?"

"Hm. To him, if he became good enough to join the League, then it meant that he was good enough to never be caught off guard and taken again."

Though unseen to him, Canary's face scrunched up into a frown. "That's pretty shaky logic considering the fact that any member of the League can be abducted if enough forethought is put into a plan."

"My thoughts exactly, though I didn't tell him then."

She agreed."Countering his belief at that point could have broken him."

"Again, my thoughts exactly. Anyway, he also said that he'd ran off to try and survive on his own but that he ran into a snag midway that made him realize that he still had a bunch to learn from me. He's back for now but he made it clear that he fully intends to push for a spot on the League."

"A semi-apprenticeship?"

Arrow hummed his agreement. "Honestly, its a much better deal than I was expecting. A bit odd, yeah, but I won't look this gift horse in the mouth."

"And Artemis?"

"Role reversal." He replied and the blonde heroine easily heard the tiredness in his voice. This was weighing on him more than she had guessed. "Now she's the one doing the distancing. Just before Speedy left I noticed she'd suddenly have something to do whenever we went out or how she'd always choose to go solo if we had to split into two groups."

"She's likely busy dealing with her own issues you know? She wants to find her sister, wants to prove that she's got nothing more in common with her father than the blonde hair and similar fighting style and she has to take care of her mom." Canary said gently. "She's got all this to think of while the most her school friends have to worry about is what boy thinks they're cute this week."

He received a sharp slap to his palm that rested over her navel. "I'll have you know that girl problems have expanded much beyond that, Mr Chauvinist."

Arrow just shrugged. "You'll have to forgive me for being old fashioned but I've had a lot on my plate recently."

"True. So what's your plan from here on out?"

"See that's the thing." He sighed. "I've got no plans. Tell me to go up against a Yakuza prostitution ring and I'll have plans drawn up in moments yet I'm totally wigging out at what to do about my protégé 's as confusing as it is annoying honestly."

The duo said nothing for a while as one mulled over the issue and the other simply took comfort in the woman in his arms.

"Artemis is undoubtedly looking for her sister right?"

He grunted in agreement.

"Which means she'll need a bit more freedom than you can give her while still having access to tools and possible help right?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"Have her join the team." Canary smiled softly as she turned to face him."She'll have your support, a team she can relate with, tools she can easily use all while we can supervise her and the team gets an additional ranged attacker like Maelstrom and I discussed."

The blond archer arched an eyebrow. "Already discussing team additions with him?"

"And possible team strategies, training styles and more. He's actually more of a gem than I suspect Batman expected. He's been pretty open with the team so far. Willing to lead or follow when necessary,contributes without being overbearing-"

"Hard sell much?" Green Arrow said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Cause it seems like you're trying to play-"

"Say matchmaker and I'll whistle in your ear." Canary purred. "Loudly."

"Backing up now."

"Better."The blonde smirked. "Anyway, with this arrangement, you'll get the chance to have Speedy all to yourself while having an eye or four on Artemis. Case solved."

"How did I survive so long without you?"

"God only knows. I'll let Batman know about this."

"I owe you."

"I'll be sure to collect."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

"Recognized: Shard:Bee-Zero Eight; Maelstrom: Bee-Zero Nine."

"I'm back bitches!" An exuberant voice drew Kaldur's attention from the console he sat at to the figures now emerging from the zeta tube. "And I brought goodies for everyone!"

"Do you have to be so loud?" A tired yet regal voice groaned. "It must be two in the morning and whoever's in here would be asleep."

"Princess, Naruto." Kaldur smiled as he stood. "Welcome back."

"Yo Kaldur." Naruto grinned as they stood before him. "What are you still doing up?"

"I was going over our performance on the mission to Santa Prisca and the information we acquired."

"And how'd it go?"

The Atlantean teen shrugged. "As well as can be expected for what can be considered our first mission. It could have been worse, though, and I owe you for ensuring that the issue of the team leader was rectified before we left."

"They bickered didn't they?" Kaguya asked with an amused smile while Naruto snorted.

"Unsurprising, really. I know Donna, Raven and maybe Megan are easy followers but between Connor's anger, Dick's pride and Wally's short attention span, they're gonna be a while before they'll become a seamless unit."

"You say that like you aren't one of us." Kaldur pointed out.

The blond apologized for the slip. "Between taking care of Kaguya and my earlier life, I've gotten a bit used to solo missions."

"No worries, my friend. I have faith that soon enough you will see us as more than just a team."

This time, it was the white haired princess that scoffed. "We're well on our way to that. Why do you think we're here?"

Kaldur smiled. "I had wondered about that."

"Well," Kaguya yawned tiredly. "I'm off for the night. Both of you can debrief or whatever until whenever you like. Good night."

"Good night princess."

"Later Hime." Naruto waved at her retreating figurebefore pulling up a chair and slumping in it. "I'm beat."

"Your training was this tiring?" Kaldur asked as he pulled up a second seat.

"Remind me to take you through it one day." Naruto replied with a weak glare."Hell remind me to run the entire team through it. Might actually be a bit helpful." The blond paused after saying that before sagging into the seat again."But no, that's not the only thing. Like I said, I've got a few things to do to ensure Kaguya's safety and setting them up is proving to be just as strenuous as actually running them might be."

"And you remain adamant that the team can't help?"

"Like I said to you, Canary and Batman, I'm a blank slate to this world's database. That means I can run these setups totally under the radar. The team, heck, even the League will benefit from these but none of you fit the bill, so to speak." The statement ended in a yawn.

Both remained silent for a while until Kaldur nodded. "Then I choose to trust that you will remain as open with us then as you have been to date. We all carry our fair share of tales best left untold."

Again, both were silent until Naruto requested for the debrief Kaguya had nentionedprior to her leaving. Kaldurtook his time explaining the full details of the mission to the offworlder.

By the end of it, the blond Uzumaki hands was sitting up and had his chin in his hands. "It was an excellent call having Raven and Donna waiting in the wings."

"Indeed. It is conceivable that without their sudden presence, we might have been unable to seize control of the helicopter and Sportsmaster may have escaped with the shipment." Kaldur conceded.

"Still, this Sportsmaster did escape to report to his superiors." Naruto stated. "And if your guesses are right, then we may be going up against the group in charge of Cadmus."

"It certainly seems that way." The Atlantean agreed as he typed rapidly into the computer. "Robin was able to run preliminary scans on the new formula and run comparisons between them, thedata he had on the formula used in the Sumdac facility-"

"He got information from Sumdac?" Naruto interrupted, getting a nod from his teammate.

"It was called the 'Blockbuster' formula. Anyway, comparisons between that, the new one found at Santa Prisca and the blood from the creature Superboy fought showed that the Santa Prisca product was a much more stable one that traded the full power of the enhancements of the original Blockbuster formula for slightly reduced physical strength but the ability to willfully activate these enhancements. The League have taken over to ascertain if it will be a single use drug like Bane's Venom or a permanent one."

"They also need to know if the users retain their own minds or if they become mindless berserkers." Naruto added. "Though I doubt that very highly since if our enemies wanted berserkers they'd have stuck to the Blockbuster formula.

"Also, we need to know if this action ties this Cobra cult to Cadmus as major allies or if they were just pawns in this convoluted game we've found ourselves in."

Kaldur's eyes widened a bit. "I did not think of that. If they're just pawns then perhaps Sportsmaster contracted them to synthesize this new formula, acting as both supplier and buyer."

"A fair trade off in the sense that Cadmus isn't linked to this new formula on the surface and Cobra get both new territory and control of the original Venom before it might be phased off the market."

"You truly have a deeper insight into these sort of things." The Atlantean stated admiringly.

"In the words of one of my many sensei, dig till all the facts are laid bare then search for the motives behind each action. Then search for the driving emotion behind each motive. That is the true essence of looking underneath the underneath."

"He sounds very paranoid."

"He actually seems laid back on the surface but that paranoia is what keeps one alive in my home world where shadows were more comfortable than light. It's the same with covert ops in any world." Naruto yawned again as he stood up. "We'll tackle these later. I need to rest."

"I will retire to my room as well." Kaldur agreed as shut down the computers and both walked away.

"Kaldur? Thank you."

"I do not understand. Why are you thanking me?"

"Two days ago, you stood up to the rest of the team on mine and Kaguya's need to be absent for a while. She may not say it all the time but Kaguya's grateful for your assistance in ensuring that the whole thing wasn't unnecessarily blown out of proportion, something Wally and Dick were geared up to doing."

"Then you owe thanks to Donna and Raven as well. They were as helpful as I was, perhaps even more so."

"I know. I'll be sure to thank them when I see them."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

"Director Desmond. The shipment has arrived from Santa Prisca."

"You made a good call boss. Terra and I received a call from Sportsmaster. The second shipment was destroyed by an unknown unit."

The man in question, recently promoted by the Board, waved dismissively. "The second shipment never truly mattered. We obtained what we needed from Santa Prisca. Good work, Terra, Kennedy. Get samples to Doctor Crane, we have a few test subjects waiting."

"Got it boss."

"Understood sir."

Desmond nodded to himself as two of his most trusted hands in the entire operation walked away. The entire system was moving smoother than ever, since the Cadmus shift, and those two were a boon. Terra possessed geo-kinetic abilities and was extremely efficient in her 'day-job' post of being his secretary. Kennedy, his new chief of security since the Sumdac blowup, was a damned near godsend. The young man, in his late twenties, was devoted to the cause, didn't push for anything above his paygrade yet showed curiosity in the matters he was privy to. He wasn't afraid to question authority if he knew he could contribute positively and he was fully hands-on, taking days off to ensure smooth running at other facilities and to make sure his men were constantly alert.

'We need more like him.' He thought to himself as he walked into a special section of the facility. One of the occupants, a young woman of mixed Indian and American heritage swiveled her chair to face him and, upon recognition, stood up to greet him.

"Director. We weren't expecting you."

"Sumitha how's the progress?"

The now named Sumitha turned to the second occupant. Behind a nearly imperceptible barrier sat a young boy bearing similar features to the recently released Project Kr, down to the clothes the released clone had worn during his education.

"Unlike either Match, who was simply uncontrollable, or Kr, who was mostly docile until his premature release, he responds to all my interactions quite well. He isn't unthinking or absurdly docile and understands that he is in a position that most would deem unfavourable or captivity. He accepts that we need him to provide a future in the instance that the Kryptonian loses his mind or is permanently retired. As such, there is little chance for 'freedom' talks to persuade him to leave us."

"Excellent. Are there any drawbacks?"

Upon hearing this question, the female's smug expression changed into a more hesitant one. "Unfortunately, there is one..."

"And?" Desmond prodded. If it was a debilitating drawback, the whole thing would have to be scratched and redone.

"He... Exhibits a fear of crowds and... Well, new faces."

Desmond stopped short. Then, he blinked. Twice. "Well... That's odd, considering his make-up."

"It is." Sumitha agreed, relaxing a bit since her boss hadn't thrown a fit. "However, should he be unable to grow out of it, I believe we can use these fears to create a new character mold for him. When the Board succeeds, we can have him hide these fears under claims that he seeks devotion to his job, not glamour. I am certain the media can be... persuaded to see things from his perspective."

"An excellent idea, Sumitha, one I am certain the Board will accept as a contingency. Do work to ensure that he gets over these fears, though. Complacency is not tolerated."

"Understood Director."

— **~ ~—**

Done!

Yes!

I am fucking wiped right now.

You know what's worse that a writer's block? When you realize that the ideas are flowing for EVERYTHING EXCEPT what you WANT to work on.

I blame muse-chan.

No Naruto-Kaguya shifts in POV this time but a nice bit of build up. I've seen many simply tell us that Blondie has a network but not bother to show any hints of them. I decided to have that be the main plot point here with other things tying in.

The meeting on the roof, for clarity, was between Naruto and two clones, one sent to infiltrate brothels, the other, clubs. Each is a blood clone (call it clichéd if you will, it works for me right now) that runs the operations of other less durable clones in their sphere of ops. Currently active in Gotham, the network is founded on the spoils of Naruto's luck at gambling.

Action seekers, fear not! Next chapter features a certain amazing piece of hardware. There's no way Blondie won't have to fight!


	8. Chapter 8

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 8**_

 _ **Kaguya's POV**_

My eyes snap open as I feel a damp material slide across my forehead, it's coolness counteracting the heat my body has generated during the night. I trace the hand to see its blond haired owner staring at me with those azure eyes of his.

"Morning, Hime-sama."

Even if my eyes were shut tight, I'd still be able to hear the smile in his voice. Uzumaki Naruto; my protector, my caretaker, my friend.

It's still a bit overwhelming that he's able to forgive me but bit by bit I feel him drawing me out of the despair that nearly broke me.

I sit up slowly, feeling the joints in my arms and back pop as I move. "Naruto. Good morning. Have you been up long?"

"Long enough to have freshened up and snagged a plate of cookies from M'gann. With milk." He smiles as he gestures to the table behind him.

"Breakfast in bed. You're learning fast." I manage to avoid stuttering as I try to tease him so he doesn't notice my undoubtedly reddening cheeks.

"I've been told that I'm a quick study." He replied with a grin as he goes to bring the light meal closer. He's wearing a simple black tee shirt with highlights of his beloved orange at the seams, a pair of denim shorts and black running shoes. Somehow, the casual look coupled with his typically carefree features works amazingly for him

"Canary's around at the moment and she wants us to have a morning session so we'll need to hurry. It's why I didn't get anything heavy." He says as he returns with the tray placed on the bed between us.

"Ah, alright then." I snag the first cookie and bite in. M'gann is one hell of a cook for someone who's just starting out. Sure, she may burn them as much as she gets them but when she gets a meal... Damn. "Any news over the night?"

It's been over a week since we worked on the budding information network. Nothing new has cropped up but I still consider it prudent to ask.

Judging by how his body tenses just a bit, I know I'm right to have asked.

"A bit. Kakashi's working with Donna's clone, she goes by the name Stacey now. They're to work with the rogue group we encountered at Sumdac, though Kakashi isn't deep enough to know the 'what' of the mission." He replies. "Kennedy alerted me to the upward flux of activity between Desmond and his chief scientists. Apparently, they're trying to find something. Michael and Chloe shared word that a group known as the League of Shadows have been moving a bit too much in the light for their moniker."

"League of Shadows?"

"Yeah. According to Shikamaru's digging, the Shadows are a group of trained assassins who are led by a figure known as Ra'as Al Ghul. They're into assassinations, kidnapping, extortion..."

"A group of despicable beings." I hear my voice come out as an angry hiss. "We will need to keep our eyes on these Shadows."

He nods in agreement. "Particularly since the man that tried slipping away with that shipment is rumored to have ties with them."

"This Sportsmaster?"

He nods.

"Well... That brings in a new angle..."

"I was thinking the same. Perhaps it is this League of Shadows that runs Sumdac? Well, Cadmus?"

His line of reasoning certainly isn't wrong yet something feels a tad off... "We don't have sufficient information to infer anything yet so we'll keep our minds open.

"But yes. It does sound like a plausible thing."

I've got nothing more to say and neither does he apparently, so we decide to just enjoy M'gann's cookies.

A few minutes later, the door opens and Black Canary steps in, dressed, as always, in her costume. "Good morning love birds."

Naruto chokes on the cookie he's about to swallow and even I feel a slight rush of heat to my cheeks before I squish it down ruthlessly. That twinkle of mischievous joy in her eyes tells me that she's just joking.

"Good morning Canary." I greet calmly between casual munches of a cookie. "How was your... ah, stay... in Star City?"

I make no attempt to hide the slightly victorious curl to my lips as I notice her seem a tad abashed. It hadn't taken long for Naruto's network to piece together certain details about some Leaguers. Thank you Shikamaru for unearthing that little tidbit.

"Touché." Her slightly predatory grin has me mentally backing up a step. "But I notice that there was no denial. Shock, yes, but certainly no 'we're not lovebirds' rant. So what should I presume, hmm?"

It's shocking how dominant her presence seems all of a sudden.

"To you, that would have sealed it." Naruto, finally getting out of his shock, slips in with a light laugh. "You, on the other hand, never seemed shocked that we knew. Embarrassed, yes, but shocked? Big no. Are we to presume, then, that Canary-sensei, actually wanted us to know?"

Silence again, for all of a minute, before she sighs and smiles. "You recover quite quickly, Naruto."

He has the decency to bow politely. "Thank you sensei."

"Alright you two, training starts in thirty minutes. Naruto, you'll be in charge today."

"We're implementing that plan?" He asks with an arched eyebrow.

The blonde heroine smirks. "Yup."

I'm confused. What the heck are they talking about?

Apparently, my bafflement shows on my face so Naruto tells me.

All of a sudden, I can wait till training begins.

 **LINE ~ ~ BREAK**

"So, is anyone else wondering why we're all here?" Wally asked in between bites of a chocolate bar. Together with the rest of the team, he was standing at the main access point to the training field. During the weeks since the Santa Prisca incident, they'd come to learn that the 'top down' entry to the training field Canary had used was only supposed to be used should the team need a sudden mission briefing while they were training. She'd just used it that time for the sheer badass factor, a reason he could totally agree with.

"You mean besides training?" Rachael replied in a bored tone, never taking her eyes off the novel she was reading. "Second, we're not all here. Kaguya and Naruto aren't here."

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen them all day." Kaldur noted. "Did they leave the mountain?"

The hiss of the pneumatic doors sliding open had them turning to see the subject of their talks waiting in the center of a grassy plain.

"I've been busy here, thanks to a certain blond heroine, setting up today's challenge." Naruto's smile was completely disarming, making some of the quicker members of the team instantly wary. "Today's challenge pits all of you against me."

Connor arched an eyebrow. "We get to beat you up?"

The blond in question rolled his eyes. "Crude way to put it but yes, you get to beat me up."

"Best thing I've heard all day."

"Aw, but you didn't even let me get to the big prize!"

Wally's interest was officially peaked. "There's a prize?'

Naruto nodded rapidly, his grin widening. "Winner gets two of The Reel's infamous Blank Tickets. Both with VIP access cards to the party included."

Four simultaneous gasps were heard from Wally, Dick, Megan and Rachael.

"How the heck did you get one of those?!" Wally asked in a rising voice. "Those things are ultra-rare and only released twice a year!"

The whisker-marked shinobi/'bodyguard' waved flippantly. "I've got my sources."

"Forgive me friends," Kaldur broke in, looking completely baffled, "but what exactly are these 'blank tickets'?"

"The Reel is _the_ go-to website for all things movie related." Rachael explained with an eager look on her usually schooled features. "Once every six months, they offer up four movie tickets."

"As their name implies, the tickets are blank meaning you get to use them for any movie of your choice until the next Blank Ticket draw." Dick continued.

"And then there's the matter of winning an all-expense paid trip to The Reel's New Year's Eve party!" Megan squealed as she thrust her hand up into the air. "O~h I am _so_ going to win that!"

Donna, who had remained silent, grinned confidently. "Well, now that I understand what the hype's all about, I am _definitely_ in!"

As the rest of the team dissolved into bickers and squabbles, they never noticed the tiny smirk on Naruto's face.

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

Up in the control room, Black Canary sported an identical smirk, one noticed by her companions.

"I'm guessing you know something we don't?" Wonder Woman asked as she, together with the rest of the proprietors and the trainers, watched the team prepare for their challenge. Interestingly, the Dark Knight had not shown up yet, even though he was known for being quite punctual.

"He's got them exactly where he wants them." Was the simple reply from the Canary.

 **LINE** __ **˗~ ~˗ BREAK**

"So, remember, get past me, grab Kaguya and move her outside the yellow ring to win using whatever means to win." Naruto yawned as he watched them prepare themselves. "Oh and one more thing…"

The blond smiled beatifically at them, his eyes crinkling lightly at the corners as he unleashed a focused blast of killing intent on them. "Come at me with the intent to kill else you'll likely end up in the infirmary."

All the teens shuddered as they felt the vile… feeling… strike like lightning before feeling it roll over them like a wave.

They were terrified and that terror only grew as they felt the tense atmosphere suddenly dissipated like it had never been there at all.

"Let's begin."

Wally was the first to react, surging forward as fast as he could, using action to beat the fear inside. 'At this speed, I've already won- URK!'

The rest of the team watched in morbid fascination as Naruto casually grabbed the speedster by the throat and slammed him into the ground before kicking him back to their feet.

"I believe I told you to come at me with the intent to kill." All forms of playfulness vanished from his visage and he glared at them balefully. "Is that really the best you can do?"

Without a word, the rest of the team charged at him, with Connor leaping to cover the distance between them and coming down with what could have been a ground shaking punch.

If it had landed.

Naruto, instead of moving back, stepped forward, grabbing the Kryptonian's arm and, with a quick spin, hurling him back, directly into the line of Rachael's spells. Taking a single step back, he dodged Kaldur's first sword swipe while casually picking Dick's batarangs from the air behind him and flicking them over to Donna, who was conveniently positioned such that the instant the flash-bangs went off, his Atlantean opponent was blinded as well. Taking advantage of Kaldur's momentary distraction, he smashed his forehead into the dark skinned youth's forehead and slammed a kick into his chest, sending Kaldur right into Connor. Reaching out to his left, he grabbed a concealed Megan's foot and used her to force Dick to back off throwing any more batarangs before tossing her into him. Then, he was faced with a recovering Donna who lashed out with a precise series of strikes at him, intending to take him down while Rachael took potshots at him whenever she had a chance. Dodging a particularly powerful punch, the blond moved to the offense, lashing out with a series of bastardized jyūken strikes that, instead of aiming for tenketsu, were all focused on striking nerve clusters. Skilled warrior that she was, Donna was able to contort her body to dodge the first three before getting hit by four more. She crumpled to the ground, her nervous system suffering from temporary paralysis at various locations. A powerful kick sent her over to join Kaldur and Connor.

"Disappointing." Naruto shook his head. "Sorely disappointing. Oh well, at least now I can go on the attack!"

The cheerfulness of the blond coupled with the realization that he'd stuck primarily to defense during the first few minutes of their engagement had the team shivering subconsciously.

Things were about to get really painful.

With a flex of his knees, the blond shot forward, arrowing toward Dick before veering off and barrelling past Raven and Wally to grab Megan. With a solid grip on the Martian and the speedster and magician off balance, the blond decided to switch things up a bit. Weaving a few single handed seals, the Uzumaki drew upon the tons of training his clones had been pulling off in the kamui dimension to manipulate and merge two elemental energies into one.

"Suiton: Sensatsu Suishō!"

A quick foot stomp created a thin layer of ice that rapidly flowed over to Dick's position. By the time the Dark Knight's protégé realized that he was stuck, he was already surrounded by a dozen icicles. Blunted, certainly as the blond didn't want to kill anyone, but they would certainly hurt.

"Dick!" Wally yelled from his spot on the ground. With quite a burst of speed, even for him, the boy launched himself toward his friend and just barely knocked him out of the danger zone before the icicles converged.

Naruto, in the meantime, had already moved again, engaging in a very one-sided hand to hand fight with both Kaldur and Connor. The two boys were definitely under pressure as their opponent used M'gann's body as a shield, preventing them from going full throttle without having such a limitation. Abruptly, he blasted backward, spinning once to gain momentum to hurl the Martian back into Raven before the magic user could complete her spell. At the same time, he bodily slammed into Donna who had tried to get to Kaguya behind him.

"Sorry pretty lady!" He giggled, sounding quite like a kid in a candy store. "Can't get Hime-sama!"

Again utilizing the extremely efficient fighting style his team's sensei had taught him in his own world, the blond grabbed onto her shoulders, flipped over her head and hurled her straight into the wall behind her.

Without wasting a single motion, he dropped into a sweeping kick, simultaneously knocking a blitzing Wally off his feet while picking out two batarangs from the dozen that flew overhead. With a deft sleight of hand trick he'd perfected back in his full-on prankster years, he slipped one into Wally's shirt and threw him into Dick, watching with a smirk as both collided into each other. The icing on the cake was watching a sudden gas cloud erupt from the shirt and both boys passing out a few seconds later.

With a quick glance to confirm that neither Atlantean nor Kryptonian clone was ready to attack, the blond performed a seal-less shunshin, appearing behind Raven in time for him to flick the batarang at her cheek. It only grazed her, with the flat side to boot, but when the little black projectile erupted in a cloud of smoke, she'd had no time to prepare and was swiftly knocked out.

"And then there were three..." He smiled ominously at the heavily breathing duo of Kaldur and Connor and the completely shaken visage of M'gann.

Then he sighed.

"The challenge is over."

 **Line** **—** **—** **Break**

"It is?" Martian Manhunter seemed confused. The blond had the entire team beat completely, yes, but that didn't mean he had to just cut training cause he'd gotten tired of it!

"I must admit to being confused as well, Canary." Wonder Woman added. The blond had completely pulled apart the team with a combination of tactics, skill and his odd power set. Interestingly, he'd opted not to go for the golden cloak he'd donned during the War yet retained a high degree of skill. This was proof, not that she ever had doubts about it, that he was more than just a powerhouse. "Why cut the challenge now?"

The blonde heroine's full attention was trained on the happenings within the training field. "This wasn't about them measuring up to him or physical training. This was a mentality test, one they failed badly. It's something we'd discussed over the past few weeks when he'd ask about the League. Apparently, we're lacking something integral that he wants to incorporate into the team."

The Amazonian Princess arched an eyebrow. "And that is..."

"Simultaneous Alpha alerts from Green Arrow and The Flash." Cyborg's voice came in urgently over the comms. "Something big!"

"We're on our way." Wonder Woman replied.

An alpha level alert meant a full on threat to the League and Earth itself. The fact that it came from the Flash as well as Green Arrow pressed home the degree of urgency.

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

Thirty minutes.

That's how long it's taken for the three hit by Robin's knockout gas to wake up, not counting the extra ten it has taken them to clear the fog outta their heads.

That's thirty minutes of me dealing with Connor's barely restrained but highly enraged glare, Kaldur'ahm and Donna's pensive stares and M'gann's fearful glances.

I'll have to decide which has had the most emotional impact on me; pensive stares I'm used to so no problems there. It's between annoyance at Connor's childish behavior (I won! Get over it!) and sadness that I caused such an innocent girl like M'gann (dear God those soulful brown will be the death of me) such pain.

At least the sleepyheads were up so I could get to the point.

"Well, that was oddly satisfying!" First, antagonize them. Use their own emotions to throw them off balance so they wouldn't be able to think straight. "Anybody else think that was satisfying?"

No replies but I notice that both Connor and, surprisingly, Dick, seem to be getting close to the blow up point.

Huh. Looks like the Dark Knight's protégé has quite a lot of pride compacted into that little frame of his. This will be fun. A quick glance at Kaguya shows that she's already picked that little tidbit up.

"Now let's see... Besides me flooring each of you, at least twice and oh so easily at that, can anyone tell me what the objective of today's challenge was?"

As expected, Connor rises to the bait first. "There was an objective that didn't involve you trying to feel good about yourself?"

This is gonna hurt him but I have to do it. He needs to face the truth about himself. They all do but Connor more so than anyone else. He needs to see himself for what he is and decide if he wants to remain chained to an old designation or if he has the drive to become who he wants to become.

So I put up a mocking sneer before goading him. "Trust me brat, I don't need to beat up kids and a cheap knockoff clone to feel good about myself."

The rest of the team gasp. M'gann seems ready to cry and I feel like an utter heel seeing the accusing look in her eyes. Dammit! Canary was right. This would be hard. And I guess they've had enough.

"Yes. I did call you a cheap knockoff clone. And I did call the rest of you kids. Because you just acted like children."

This time, both Wally and Dick blow up at me. Connor seems... I dunno, calmer? I think he's having an epiphany or something but I won't dwell on that excessively. Not yet anyway.

"Enough!" A hint of the commanding persona I'd developed during the War at home leaks out into my tone, causing the teens before me to fall silent. "I said what I did because it was the truth. The entire test was less a physical challenge and more a mentality-probing one."

Kaguya steps forward smoothly, deciding to take the wheels for now. Good. She's better at this being diplomatic stuff than me anyway.

"The challenge you all faced today was one designed by Naruto, with the permission of the Black Canary, to see if you had an integral component the League lacks and to help incorporate it into you if you didn't have it."

"Well forgive my sarcasm but what could we have that the League lacks?" Dick asked snarkily.

"What both this team and the League lacks, from the challenge results, is a coherent sense of teamwork." I answer.

It takes a moment for this to sink in but when it does...

"You think the League lacks teamwork?" Dick asks between bursts of laughter shared by Wally. "Oh that is so rich. You don't even know them! How can you-"

"He never said they lacked teamwork." Raven speaks up, the first to do so apart from the trifecta of knuckleheads. "He specifically said that they lacked a _coherent_ sense of teamwork."

That shuts them up real quick and I nod in appreciation to Raven.

"The League consists of powerful individuals who have grown used to singular combat. Few of them had ever fought in unison with a larger group prior to the events of the Atlantean Surge as the media refers to it. However, being exceptional combatants that they were, they adapted on the fly to create a haphazard form of teamwork. It worked for them until a point during the War when the lynchpin of this 'teamwork' of theirs, Superman, was taken out. We reviewed the media footage and have come to the conclusion that they were lucky to have won that fight. Their strategies were all shattered by the removal of a single variable: Superman."

They're completely silent now, drinking in Kaguya's every word.

"Today's challenge was designed to see if you had it in you individually to work together as a team even when the interests clashed." Kaguya finishes and I step up to continue.

"Out in the field, the enemy will try to turn each person against the team. They will try to break us apart and try to use varying tactics to draw one out against others or the whole against the one."

"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." Kaldur quoted. "But if the stronger links protect the weaker, the chain remain unbroken."

"Succinctly put." I agree. "I specifically decided to act the role of the villain. First, I pit you all against each other by offering an irresistible option to sway you from your team. Yes, Wally, the tickets are fake. When you failed that test, I chose to see if you could defend each other outside combat scenarios. I verbally attacked Connor, yet none of you stood up for him. While it is good to allow one's teammates to fight their own battles so they don't become over reliant, certain battles must be taken on as a group."

"But what about Sumdac? We worked together didn't we?" Wally argues.

"No." This time, its Donna that speaks up. "At the facility, we simply fell in line with the chain of command. We followed Naruto's orders because he exuded the most confident aura. Like the League, we created a haphazard teamwork of our own."

"But... But we failed the test." M'gann sounds so scared it's almost painful. She's like Hinata all of a sudden, afraid to meet anyone's eyes, afraid to speak up too loudly.

Afraid of failure and the rejection it will cause.

There's a deeper reason for her fear, something in her eyes that just screams a need for acceptance. In a way, she's like I was as a kid, desperate to be accepted into a group yet fearing rejection for being different...

This is going to hurt.

"You did." Yup. That near-imperceptible flinch cuts into me as thoroughly as Anko's twin tanto did during flexibility training. God. "However, as I said, this simply means that we'll be working on team training from now on as frequently as we do regular trainings. I'll hammer out details with Canary but I think we can have everyone put in rotating groups of three per week of advanced training so we all get to know how to adapt to each and every one's abilities and skills."

"Why not just have the whole team train together?" Raven asks. For the first time since I handed them their asses, Dick smiles and speaks without a hint of sarcasm.

"We're to be a black-ops group specializing in infiltration, information gathering and exfiltration. With those terms, the larger the team the greater the likelihood of getting caught."

I nod. "We'll likely have a standard setting though. Say, a heavy hitter, a ranged support and a close ranged specialist but the teams may be dictated as much by the mission type as well."

"Guess we've got our work cut out for us don't we?" Wally asks, sidling up to M'gann side. "I call being on Miss M's team."

I scoff at that.

I will enjoy taking his dreams away from him.

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

Calmly enjoying a Big Belly Burger on a roof seven hundred meters away from the target, Kakashi watched as the young girl who had employed him scoped out the target building a final time before the sun dropped below the horizon. About ten feet away, Stacey, Donna's clone and his fellow employee, stood straight, entire posture reeking of military discipline and the opposite of his slouched, relaxed and lackadaisical one. On their far side, a lanky youth in baggy blue jeans and a dark green hood fiddled with a cube and a multi-tool.

"We'll move an hour after sundown." The girl stated as she turned to her team. "Both of you will take care of the outer guards, Gizmo and I will head in to find what we came here for."

"Pardon my asking..." Kakashi swallowed the mouthful he'd bitten off before she'd spoken. "but shouldn't we head in later? Perhaps just beyond the midnight mark?"

"We could, noob, but Star Labs security system is designed to shut out any unauthorized entry attempts from twenty three hundred hours to seven hundred hours. Their security system is also nigh-uncrackable. As such, our best bet is a swift move in and out while they still rely primarily on their human security."

Kakashi nodded. "That should work. Of course, should anything go wrong, you'll get what you want while Dinah and I play they fall guys."

The dark haired Gizmo sneered challengingly. "Got a problem with that?"

"It doesn't matter if he has a problem with it." The girl cut in. "That's the way it is. Should any problems arise, we'll work to get out of the vicinity and the moment we're clear, we'll send a signal so that both of you can make your own paths out. If you do, head back to the rendezvous and we'll leave together. You'll have thirty minutes leeway."

"Hmm... I suppose that's acceptable." Kakashi shrugged. "Whaddaya say Stace?"

The Amazonian shrugged. "Works for me."

"Good. Now if you don't mind, Gizmo and I need to finalize our plan."

The silver haired man shrugged and walked over to the far wall with the clone. He knew their de facto leader only wanted to tell the tech head to cool off the aggression so he had no reason to listen in on their conversation.

He'd already obtained the reason for the heist anyway so there was no pressing reason to do so anyway.

Now... To figure out what they'd need with the facilities notes on instantaneous transportation...

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

Four hours.

It had taken the combined efforts of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Captain Atom and the Martian Manhunter a total of four hours to deal with a single android.

It would have been hilarious if the implications hadn't been so dire.

Someone out there could, theoretically, build an army of those monsters and the League -and the world- would be doomed.

That thought, possibly more than the fight itself, had Canary shivering.

The damned thing deserved a whole new classification of its own.

"How's the shoulder?" She looked up to see the stoic expression of the Dark Knight staring at her.

"Are you human?" She asked in return. Everyone else showed signs of fatigue; Captain Atom was visibly drained as were the Martian and the Scarlet Speedster. Green Arrow, like herself, was hunched over and gasping and even Superman and the Amazonian Princess were breathing hard. Yet here he was, the most human of the lot and the one who had continuously pushed the android's boundaries to test its limits, standing as usual with not even a stray gasp to betray the toll the fight had on him.

"I am. I've contacted a few sources. WayneTech has sixteen trucks en route for transporting the parts. The Flash has contacted Star Labs and they are prepared to receive them. Cyborg's set up a roster of League members who will be on duty during the analysis and final transfer to the Archives."

"Sounds good." Canary huffed as she stabilized her breathing. "Except you don't seem to have any plans for the protection of the parts between here and Star Labs which is stupid. And you never act stupid."

The cowled head inclined for the briefest of moments, a movement the blonde heroine noted. "I want you to head back to the team. They'll handle this and I'll send the mission briefing, together with whatever else we've gotten by then, across."

Canary didn't bother arguing. Her whole body had agreed the instant he'd offered a chance to get off the field and relax. "And how do I get back to the base?"

"As you know, in the past weeks since the activation of the base, Cyborg, Flash and I have been creating a network of teleportation platforms in a range extending outward from the base. The closest is about a mile from here. I'll have Flash drop you off."

"Well then." She exhaled once more before straightening up. "I'll radio in when they're ready."

The Dark Knight nodded. "And Canary?"

She paused to hear him out.

"Get that shoulder checked out."

The heroine rolled her eyes. "Yes dad."

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

"Four hours?" Wally gaped at the on-screen image of Batman. "It held eight Leaguers off for four hours?!"

"I'm not sure if I should be awed by its incredible battle capabilities or terrified." Dick added in shock.

"Definitely terrified." Canary grimaced as her shoulder throbbed again. "Very terrified."

"Indeed. The android possesses the ability to replicate the powers and abilities of its opponents and utilizing them in an extremely efficient manner." The Dark Knight clarified.

"Who made it?" Naruto asked with narrowed eyes. "And does it bear similarities to the android that attacked us at Happy Harbor?"

"While the android that referred to itself as Mister Twister does share the abilities of a Leaguer, analysis of this android says that we're dealing with a different player."

"This guy." Cyborg spoke up as a new image popped up beside the Batman's. "Professor Anthony Ivo."

"But Ivo's supposed to be dead." Dick protested, to which both Naruto and Cyborg shook their heads, though it was the mecha-human that spoke.

"Supposedly. With villains, it's rarely ever a certainty."

"So what are we to do?" Kaldur asked.

"The team is in charge of protecting the parts as they are moved to a secure location. Canary will show you the quickest way of getting here. You have fifteen minutes to prepare yourselves."

With that, the screen darkened.

"We need a plan." The young Atlantean stated. "I unfortunately do not have experience with this kind of missions."

"Neither do I." Donna added, voicing similar comments from the females on the team.

"Well, I'm a clone, Wally here's too impulsive to think anything up and judging by the Santa Prisca debacle, Dick's better solo." Connor wrapped up before turning to Naruto. "Naruto?"

"Indeed. You have the greatest combat experience amongst us and are uniquely suited to a mission like this." Kaldur agreed. "What should we do?"

The blond didn't answer immediately, choosing instead to close his eyes and think over it for a few moments before replying. "Cyborg, can you provide a baseline dossier of the Leaguers that fought this android? Nothing too revealing, just their generalities."

"I can."

"Please do so. We'll also need a video showing the android utilizing the abilities it duplicated."

"Can I ask why?"

"We need to know if it can utilize abilities to an equal, lesser or greater degree than the original wielder can." The blind replied.

"Equal." Canary supplied the answer. "Whatever powers it duplicates, it utilizes to an equal degree as was utilized upon duplication."

"That makes things easier..." The blond sighed. "Raven, M'gann, Kaguya, you three will have to stay away from the android at all costs. Raven and Kaguya because we don't want it duplicating either of your abilities and M'gann because you are currently the most fragile on the team bar Robin who _will_ be coming along for the mission as he will be an excellent support fighter should the android be pieced together as well as lacking further abilities that can be turned against us."

"Isn't that hypocritical, though?" Donna asked. "You have a ton of abilities, any one of which would be detrimental against us should the android duplicate them."

The blond grinned slightly. "Recall that I took you all out almost without utilizing any of my abilities? I'm certain that I can combat this android without utilizing any of my abilities as well."

"And Kaldur?" Connor asked.

"Unless the android can suddenly create tools and equipment, I doubt its abilities to duplicate Kaldur's abilities."

"That's good to know that the bases are all covered but we don't have a concrete plan yet." Wally pointed out.

"The enemy is in pieces," Naruto shrugged, "and should this mission go well, it will remain in pieces. Creating a concrete battle plan is essentially pointless, the many variables involved in battle certainly make it so."

"Well, with that covered, the rest of us will suit up." Kaldur stated. "Meanwhile, M'gann, Raven and Kaguya will fly over to the battlefield and trail us from there just in case backup is required."

With that, the team nodded and headed off to prepare.

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

 _"Connor, are you alright?"_ Naruto asked over the comms though he expected no reply and, indeed, receive none. The raven haired teen had seemed pretty torn up over the all but total rejection his source material had shown towards him and had been surly since the mission had begun. Upon hearing of Batman's plan to utilize only two of the dozen trucks to transport the parts to their destination, he had immediately opted to stick with the clone. Together with Wally, who was currently flanking them on a bike a few hundred meters out, moving parallel to them on a dirt track through the corn farm, they made up team Beta with Alpha being Kaldur, Dick and Donna.

Concealed by a unique, wind based jutsu, the blond was seated atop the speeding truck, the eyes of the team for the mission. _"Come on Connor, talk to me."_

 _-Leave me alone!-_

The blond (now raven haired, as was his modus operandi during missions) Uzumaki sighed tiredly. Superman wasn't harsh in his rejection but even simple oblivion to another's desire could trigger deep seated feelings of rejection. One only had to see Hinata's reaction to his youthful obliviousness to know that.

The Kryptonian hero had gone a tad further than that with his claims of being caught unawares and, between the sudden knowledge of his clone and the sudden knowledge of there being a team of young heroes being thrust into the warfront, sanctioned by Batman, no less, the big man had said that he couldn't handle such and needed time to think.

Naruto scoffed. At the very least, he could have agreed to meeting the boy before taking off like a damned pussy. With another sigh (and God, was he doing that a lot recently) the blond decided to speak to the boy.

 _"Connor, I know how you feel-"_

 _-Great. Not only are you a bodyguard, you're a psychiatrist too. Just wonderful.-_

 _"I'm not a psychiatrist Connor. But I do know exactly what it's like to not be acknowledged just because someone thinks you're either a mistake or just a weapon."_

He could sense the young boy's sudden spike of interest, tempered by a the sense of betrayal and rejection he'd just been through. _-What do you mean?-_

 _"You see, as a child, I was... special. I had massive potential. In a village specializing in creating warriors, I was born with the potential to be a cut above the standard. Unfortunately, circumstances around my birth ensured that people would grow up hating me, both for my being alive and for my potential._

 _I met a guy who lived a similar life. He was on the brink of being a monster when I met him."_

 _-What... What happened to him?-_

 _"He became my friend. I showed him how I avoided the gaping maw of hatred that surrounded me."_

Silence. Naruto could feel the boy struggling within himself. If he was to break free, he needed to ask the question himself. If he couldn't, chances were that he would fall.

Unfortunately, trouble kicked in at that moment in the form of a swarm of steel gray, vaguely simian shapes approaching in the distance. _"Superboy, Kid Flash, we have incoming. Southeast, four hundred meters and closing fast."_

 _-Any clue what we're up against?"_ The speedster asked.

A quick burst of chakra and the fully matured sharingan spun into view. _"Monkeys. Robotic monkeys."_

 _-Anyone else think its an odd coincidence that were attacked by flying robot monkeys while shipping an android?-_ Superboy grunted.

 _"Kid, radio Robin. Let them know what's up and have bird boy figure out how they're tracking us."_ Naruto ordered as he began saturating the air with his chakra. _Superboy, prepare yourself. I'll try to knock them out but a few may get by me. Kid, stay on the bike unless there's a reason for you to show up. Like if the driver needs a quick evac."_

 _-Got it.-_ Both boys replied before the comma went silent.

The simian swarm, now about a hundred meters away, suddenly split into four groups, two speeding up to overtake the vehicle while the other two scattered and converged on the truck.

"Not on my watch." The blond whispered softly as, with a single handseal, he unleashed the winds he'd saturated with his chakra. "Fūton: Mugon Ansatsuha."

The S-ranked Silent Assassination Wave technique was a favorite of his when faced with hordes of zetsus and nothing to stop him from letting loose. It essentially turned the very air around the targets within a field of his chakra-saturated wind into a superfine blender, shredding targets near-instantly. These monkeys were no different.

Unfortunately, they had heavy reinforcements who'd stayed within the corn field and he didn't have the time to set up the Silent Assassination Wave technique.

So he did the next best thing: he began unsealing and hurling wind-enhanced kunai at the targets going straight for a single shot between their large green eyes, his sharingan working to ensure that he kept them all in sight.

 _-Maelstrom! Shit they're tunneling in from beneath. Lasers!-_

 _"Extremely busy keeping a bulk of them away here!"_ Naruto replied with a grunt as he lobbed a trio of kunai at two monkeys that tried to vault over their companions. 'It's a good thing I had my clones inscribe summoning seals on my weaponry.'

Just then, a violent explosion came from within the truck, blowing the truck door out with a smoking Connor crumpled within.

"Shit!" Naruto swore as he deactivated the sharingan and jumped down to grab the boy and help him up. "You okay?"

"Ringing ears. I'll survive. Let's go!"

With that, both charged forward, Connor covering the distance to the truck in a single leap and Naruto providing a hail of cover fire. Just as Superboy landed, though, the bus swerved erratically and the blond noticed three robotic tails flying out of the driver's cab. _"Kid Flash! Get the driver out of there. Stat!"_

 _-On it!-_

Leaving that duty to his teammate, the blond caught up to the truck and, summoning a pair of kunai to his hands, began attacking the enemies that swarmed the bus. However, with the bus still swerving erratically and Superboy being pummeled repeatedly, the blond decided to call the Kryptonian back.

It was a lucky call as, not even a second after he jumped, the roof of the truck was blown apart, the concussion throwing the mid-air boy off course. A dozen robots flew into the air with the android parts.

In that instant, the blond was split: save Connor or go for the parts?

'Damn it!' He swore before unleashing a burst of wind chakra from his feet, propelling him into the air to catch the boy.

"Ma- Maelstrom?" The boy shook his head groggily. "What... What happened?"

"Choice between you and the robots, I went for you." Naruto grunted as they landed. In the distance, the monkeys made off with their loot. _"Miss Martian, team Beta needs an extraction."_

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

"The android had an extensive GPS tracker built into every limb." Robin stated as he brought up the results of his hack. "Even if we'd taken it apart limb by limb and transported it that way, we'd still have been found."

Naruto grunted from his seat in the bioship, having already guessed as much.

The whole team was in the bioship, M'gann having picked team Alpha soon after team Beta. Now, they were working on a plan to get the android back before it could be pieced together.

"I'll go ahead and ask the obvious." Wally drawled. "Did you hack them?"

"I did." Robin replied as he pulled up a map on the bioship's holographic display. "The parts are all here, judging by the movement speed, I'd say they're on the seven PM train from Gotham."

"Ivo must be trying to piece his crap together again." Connor growled, still pissed at being caught in an explosion... Twice.

"Undoubtedly." Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm still in charge of the team strategy right?"

"Yes." Kaldur replied.

"In that case, Robin, find me an open space, possibly a field within easy reach from the train. M'gann, head over to the coordinates of the parts. Connor, Wally, Donna, Kaldur and I are going to try to stop it from being assembled but should we fail, we'll be playing quite possibly the most dangerous game of tag with the android to get it to wherever Dick finds. Once there, the rest of you will back off and leave me to handle it."

The outburst of shock was as expected as even M'gann nearly stalled the ship just to gape at him.

"Are you crazy? That thing has the abilities of EIGHT leaguers!" Dick yelled.

"Yeah! And you can't utilize any of your abilities else they'll be used against you!" M'gann added.

The outburst continued for nearly a minute until they realized that neither Kaguya nor Naruto had spoken, simply staring at each other intently. Gradually, the noise quieted until only the thrum of the engines made any sound.

"Are you sure?" Kaguya asked quietly.

The blond smiled. "Trust me."

The white haired princess stared at him for a moment longer before sighing. "Then it is settled."

Wally blinked. "Wait, that's it? She says it's settled and so it is?"

"She's the only one that can stop me." Naruto shrugged. "However, I want all of you to trust me. Just as I trust that you will play your parts, I want you to trust that I will do the same."

"I've seen you do quite a lot." Raven admitted. "But this seems much."

"I know. And that's why I'm asking you to trust me."

The bioship fell silent as the team struggled to decide.

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

"Remember guys, it's got the powers of eight leaguers, five out and out powerhouses and three of the most skilled fighters in the League." Naruto warned as his hair shifted to black again, matching the rest of his outfit. Staring at each of his teammates that were about to jump out with him, he conveyed utter seriousness yet complete trust in their abilities. "If it gets assembled, call out and do not hold back. The rest of us will be with you as soon as possible."

They all nodded before jumping out, each landing on a cabin as it passed per their plan.

Donna moved about as stealthily as she could, taking to hovering where she could to avoid creaking floorboards. Within minutes, she'd scanned her cabin top to bottom. _"Nothing here."_

 _-Aqualad here. Same in my cabin.-_

 _"Checked three times already. Nada.-_

 _-Maelstrom. Nothing.-_

They all paused, waiting for their final teammate when a crackle of static buzzed their comms.

 _-Shit! Head to Superboy! Now!-_

Donna was off like a bolt, flying out of her cabin and then rushing over to the Kryptonian clone. Suddenly, she was pulled out of the way of a flying Superboy by her spiky haired teammate.

"It's been assembled." He whispered to her as the android flew out of the cabin in pursuit of its prey. "We're doing it."

With his message passed, he launched himself forward, like an arrow out of a bullet with that strange running style of his. Glancing at Kaldur, who nodded to her, she took off as well, following her squad leader as he'd called himself. Within seconds, they caught up to the android as it laid into Connor with devastatingly powerful blows that would have killed even the average metahuman.

Maelstrom struck first, circling round to face the android before flicking his kunai at it. It seemed like an inconsequential move but the addition of the unknown variable had the android calling on the density a shifting of the Martian Manhunter to simply let it sail past, allowing her to ensnare Superboy with her lasso and tug him out of the way. In the meantime, Maelstrom raced away from the now charging android, slowly but surely leading it to their trap.

"Accessing: Flash."

The now black haired Uzumaki grunted in pain as the android sped up and shoulder checked him. Just before it could continue its assault, though, Kid Flash pushed it away and continued the game.

This time, it was Aqualad that saved the speedster from getting smashed by Superman's strength after the boy's legs were taken out by a disorienting blast from Canary's Cry. A water whip had pulled him away even as the android was pushed back by a hammer strike to the chest.

"We're up." Superboy grunted. "Damn it's strong. I'm gonna tell Maelstrom, next time, between me and the parts, he should head for the parts."

"If all goes well, it will be reduced to scrap again." She replied as she dropped him and flew forward. She didn't want to think of the possibility of things not going well.

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

"They're getting closer." Robin stated through teeth gritted in tension. He turned to his companion. "Are you sure about this?"

His companion arched an eyebrow. "Thought we were over this?"

"Excuse me for being worried." He shot back just as Superboy landed, rocking the ground as he took off an instant after he'd landed. Behind him were Troia and Maelstrom, the first flying, the second racing toward them.

"Aqualad and I are here." Kid Flash gasped as he landed in the safe zone with the Atlantean. "Let's kick it."

Robin's companion, a clone of Maelstrom nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Up front, Connor took a final leap and cleared the prepared field. At the same moment, Troia veered off while Maelstrom, hotly pursued by the android, landed right in the middle of the field, ducking a swing from the android and spinning to come face to face with the machine, swiftly lifting a hand to just below his sternum, folding fingers until he had his index and middle pointing at his jaw in a gun-like fashion.

"Ninpō;" his voice rang round the clearing. "Shishienjin!"

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

I smile as I hear the android's words; Unable to Duplicate.

Of course it would be unable to duplicate that. The Four Purple Flames Barrier required an already prepared sealing matrix and four people or four sources of chakra to power it. My use of a handseal was just an action of simple misdirection for the android and its creator who would undoubtedly be watching this fight. That was the real reason I decided to split the girls off from the rest of the team. With the android's attention on me, they would be free to hunt and apprehend the creator with ease.

The clearing is silent within the walls of flame as the android simply stares at me. Taking advantage of this moment of calm, I move my hands to my back, creating two Truth Seeking Orbs and shifting them into their short staff forms. At the same time, I feel the natural energy I'd tasked a clone with absorbing merging with my reserves. With that, my preparations are set and I'm ready for the fight.

"Confirmed Alpha Priority: Specimen Acquisition."

If it wouldn't have given me away, I'd have laughed. Genius inventors ate so predictable that it's quite laughable. This Ivo character is no different. Having created a machine capable of duplicating any abilities, encountering one that it can't has piqued his interest. By ordering his creation to bring me in, he's limited the extent of damage it can do to me.

Wonderful.

With this little gamble having paid off, I blast forward, carefully keeping my speed close to what I'd displayed previously. The android accesses Flash's speed and closes the distance faster but I can easily keep track of it in sage mode. We clash with a rumble, the ground cratering around us, its arms trying to push through my block. Too bad it's utilizing Flash's speed. Superman's strength would have helped more. I disengage from the stalemate with an arm and try to jab it with a staff but it swiftly retreats. No matter, I have it on the back foot now, an advantage I press continuously by attacking nonstop with the staves. It tries to keep up but fails, taking repeated hit to the chest and arms.

"Aceessing: Martian Manhunter."

I slip through the android and am instantly reminded of my fights with Obito, that hax-using bastard.

"Accessing: Black Canary."

Dear Ivo, should you ever need to create this thing again, I advise you to have it learn to keep its mouth shut. That split second of warning is enough for me to create a pad of natural energy around my ears before the blast of sound sends me flying. Twisting, I manage to land on my feet but a second after, the android appears by my side and I only catch a snippet of its words: -man.

That means either the Kryptonian or that Amazon, neither of which would be good if I get hit. So, I bring a hand up and reform one of the Gudodama into a shield that takes the brunt of the punch. Definitely Superman.

I spin about, bringing my second staff to bear even as it reforms into a chokuto. The android is quick enough to retreat but I bring the shield to bear, slamming into its chest plate before combining both weapons to create a scythe. I press the attack again, forcing the android to lose ground as I use the Scythe's length and curved reach to harry it continuously.

"Accessing-"

"Oh hell no!" I snarl as I pump in more chakra to my arms to speed up my attacks and keep it from attempting any further ability switches. I'm beginning to feel the strain though, as I've never been pushed so hard without tapping into Kurama's chakra. Unfortunately, I can't risk that. Not in this fight.

As I spin to bring the blade of my scythe to bear, I switch it out, opting for a lengthened glaive instead that bites deep into its raised arm block. Without wasting a second, I yank it back and reverse my spin, the weapon reforming yet again into a staff that slams into the android's chestplate and extends, pushing it back into the ground. I have no time to pause for a breath, though, as I blast forward to press my attack again, the staff splitting into equal haves for each hand. At the same time, I activate the Rinnegan and call upon the powers of the shurado for an instant, scanning the android for any structural weaknesses. Nothing. I sigh as my eyes revert to normal. Not surprising considering that it went up against both Superman and Wonder Woman in slugfests earlier in the day. Guess I'm gonna have to be more creative.

It's just beginning to rise when I crash into it, sending it back into the ground as I flip back and flick a whip around its neck and yank it into the air. Pulling the whip back to free it, I launch into a spinning attack, flicking the whips against its chestplate with every strike sending it further into the sky. Then, I snap both whips around its arms and yank it downward. At the same time, I jump, twisting to bring my feet to bear and channeling a tremendous amount of chakra to the soles of my feet. What I'm about to try is a messed up version of Baa-chan's strength technique. I'm really hoping I don't blow my legs apart.

As it comes within range, I turn the whips into shackles with short iron bars that I'm holding. Then, I slam both feet into its chest an instant before releasing all that pent up energy.

The blowback sends me hurtling into the ground, every tenketsu from my waist down screaming furiously at me. I have no choice but to work through the pain as I stagger to my feet in time to watch the android plummet into the ground. Instead of rushing over though, I decide to stand my ground for now, watching for movement as I feel the chakra in my legs settle back and ease off the pain. It's better this way, than rushing in with all but numb legs.

As expected, the android rises to its feet making me wonder exactly what the hell it's made of.

However, two things catch my attention.

First; it's armless. Like, both arms have been ripped away from the shoulders. I look down to see said body parts still intact in the shackles of the reformed Gudodama.

Second; the annoying red light in its eyes that indicate its working status are gone.

At that moment, I receive a transmission.

-Yo Maelstrom! We've got Ivo and he's given the deactivation code! You there?-

It's Robin. Dear Kami have I been waiting for that call!

"Well it's about damned time!"

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

Done.

Honestly, I could have tried adding something to the chapter instead of cutting it off there but that could easily push back publishing times by a month.

Let's all just be glad that this came out quickly.

Thank you so much for pointing out my flaws Fuyuriku. I'll definitely revise the chapters and correct them as time crops up. Perhaps during the next episode of 'Block! A Writer's Dilemma...'

Up next, Arty joins the team and the League of Shadows make their first official appearance. Maybe even see what Michael and Chloe are up to...

Please Read and Review.

The Ethereal Lord.


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks so much for the reviews again guys! I feel really happy that a number of you take the time to review this. Even more thanks to those with the comprehensive reviews.

Review responses will come after the chapter.

 _ **A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 9**_

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

Sitting on an outcropping on the mountainside, I feel the power of nature wash over me as I immerse myself into it. Once again, I feel the spirit of this world crying out to me, pleading for my assistance to wipe the blight that humanity has become away from her. I understand why. When I first accessed the power of nature in this world, I was pulled in so deep that, in a way, I became the world. And I could feel the death... Not of the humans themselves, plenty as that was. No, I felt how they were, oh so gradually, killing off the world itself. Destroying large swathes of forestry, introducing devastating chemicals into the world and so much more... If I hadn't been trained, I would have succumbed all too easily. Hell, even with the influence of the Sage Toads' teachings it had still been difficult.

It's much easier now though, and I utilize the energy of nature to power the seal inscribed on my upper back. It's a small but very useful seal for communication between myself and my clones.

Of course, they're less clones and more people of their own now. The seal that had created them had utilized my blood as a base genetic library for drawing up their body form while I used chakra to alter their actual appearances. A touch of nature infused yang chakra had granted them awareness while the addition of yin chakra stabilized their mental faculties.

Unlike Shikamaru and Shiho, the actual, disguised shadow clones, Kakashi, Michael, Chloe and Kennedy are essentially people of their own.

 _-Yo boss! You there?-_

'Kennedy.' I feel myself grin. 'Looks like the Mind Link seal worked as we wanted it to.'

 _-Yes! Finally, we can speak in person!-_

'Yup. So, what do you have?'

 _-Alright. Here's the deal: the android you took out definitely had ties to the Cadmus board of directors.-_

I let loose a string of colorful curses that would have Hinata's blush going nova. 'You're sure?'

 _-I overheard Desmond talking about the inferences of the 'Amazo' data. I'd thought I misheard, y'know, maybe it was something related to Donna and her people but then I was called in to analyze the data they had. It included footage of you and the team going up against the android as well as your final stand against it.-_

'Well bloody fuck! I'd hoped we could stay hidden from them a bit longer.'

 _-Sorry but you're definitely on their radar now.-_

Aggravating as it is and pissed as I am, there's nothing to be done about it. I'll have to be a hell of a lot more cautious now.

 _-Well, I believe I told you about Project Der-Zod?-_

'You mentioned it, yeah. What's the deal?'

 _-From what I've got, it's another kryptonian. Not sure if it's a clone or not but from what I got from Banerji, it has some_ _behavioral_ _quirks. Nothing she can't work through apparently but they're there.-_

'Well they sure as hell have a fixation on having a Kryptonian under their thumb.' It makes a lot of sense too. From what I've been able to garner, Superman and his female counterpart, Supergirl, have damned near limitless potential. Having a copy or three of them would be a boon. 'Alright. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for me will ya?'

 _-No problem boss. Keep your eyes open too. They could be up to anything. I'll try to get higher up the ladder.-_

'Watch your back man.'

 _-Got it. Later.-_

I sigh as I feel the connection on his end cut off and I stop channeling energy into the seal, now letting it just flow around me.

Annoying as the revelation about the android is, I'm not too surprised. Kaguya had considered it a possibility when we spoke of it and though neither the Batman and Canary had hinted at such possible ties, I believe it might be on the table. I'm a tad pissed off, personally, that I have no way of knowing if the Twister android was connected as well.

On the other hand, something about the seemingly unending Kryptonian projects has me baffled.

If that android truly possessed Superman-level strength then something is undoubtedly wrong with Connor. He has never shown anywhere near the level of strength the android did neither has he shown any more abilities than his strength and durability. I know Superman's abilities are shared by Supergirl so they are not exclusive to him alone. Perhaps it is as a result of Connor being younger?

Maybe. Except that throws in a whole new line of thought that's just as bothersome: Donna's clone is the same age as the original so why exactly is Connor a younger version of Superman? Control issues with the adult clone? Or did they just alter his genetics to make him younger? Why would they do that? And just how Kami damned advanced are these guys that they've got access to everything from genetic manipulation to high level robotics?

Just as I'm about to fall deeper into the spiral of questions, I feel a hand rest gently on my shoulder followed by an almost tentative pull on my nature-enhanced chakra.

Can't let that go on too much longer...

 **Line** **—** **—** **Break**

Steadily making her way up the jagged mountainside, Raven (or Rachael as she was called when not in costume) wondered for the umpteenth time exactly why she wasn't down there with the rest of the team. Honestly! Even Kaguya had agreed to take time off and go swimming and Lord knows the white haired princess could be a bit uptight at times. Yet here she was... Off to her meditation spot.

'And for a damned good reason too.' She countered the despairing thoughts. She paused to tuck her spell book into the back of the waistband of her shorts before grabbing hold of a ledge and shimmying up over it. 'How many teenagers in the world can say they managed to escape their crazy demon dad and have to constantly shield themselves from his presence so he doesn't find them? Heck, how many teenagers in the world can even _say_ they've got a true as fuck demon as their dad, crazy or otherwise?'

Far as she knew, the answer to that remained one: herself. And, whether that number changed or not, she not only had to shield herself as constantly as possible to escape his grasp, she now had to do it to ensure that her new... friends? Family? Whatever they meant to her (and she wasn't exactly sure what that was), she had to ensure that she protected them. And that meant she couldn't ever let him find her.

It was to these thoughts that her mind was fixed when she made it to her spot, a flat outcropping rock situated on the side of the island facing away from Happy Harbor that presented a beautiful panorama of the ocean. She'd spotted it about a week after they first came to the island and she'd been using it ever since, the view it granted giving her a sense of peace she'd only ever felt back on Azarath.

Today, though, seated at the very edge of the outcrop with his a foot dangling down and the other folded under and both arms resting behind him as support pillars was the blond enigma known as Naruto.

From the very first time she'd encountered him, she'd known he was powerful. His energy signature dwarfed most people she'd ever encountered. Heck, it dwarfed even some _beings_ she'd encountered. His wasn't the largest, ranking somewhere in the middle of her top ten but without a doubt he possessed the most powerful _life force_ she'd ever encountered. He was like a wellspring of never-ending vitality. And it was so... welcoming. Where some of those she knew had energies that felt cold, ruthless even, his felt like the fire in a cabin hearth, inviting one in for warmth after a cold day.

Yet, for some reason, she didn't fully trust him. It may have had something to do with the fact that she _knew_ something wasn't straight about his relationship with Kaguya. They weren't lying _per se_ but they weren't being truthful either. At least, not completely.

'And who am I to judge?' She thought with a self deprecating shrug, her mouth twisting into a sardonic smile. 'It's not like I'm totally honest with Dick either, to say nothing of the team.'

With a slight shake of her head, she abandoned those thoughts and deliberated over whether to join him, leave and return later or to find another spot.

'Meh fuck it. Its more than big enough for both of us anyways.' She decided as she walked forward, careful not to make any loud sounds.

'Plus, I found it first so I get dibs.' She added, giving in to her childish side. 'Finders keepers.'

Honestly, she was even tempted to stick her tongue out.

All of that lasted till she was about ten feet from him.

All too jarringly, she felt herself ensconced in a feeling of such utter calm than she had to stagger back a bit to regain her senses.

'The hell?!' She gasped as her breathing stabilized. 'I've never felt that kind of calm before... Not even on Azarath!'

After a few moments to regroup, she tentatively crept forward again.

Just like the last time, she felt it: an ensconcing feeling of such utter calm... Now that she was prepared for it, she could feel herself relax, just slipping away as the calm took over. The first time, she'd been like the man in a darkened room suddenly seeing the light of a new day. It had scared her but now that she had at least some understanding of it... It was beautiful.

She, in an almost trance-like state, placed a hand on his shoulder to further increase her connection to that calm...

And felt it shatter a few moments later as a hand lifted hers off, the calmness fading away so quickly that in seconds, it was like it had never been there.

She looked down to see where her hand was still held lightly by that of the blond who was now staring at her with amusement in his eyes.

"Any longer and the petrification would have started."

Wait.

Petrification?

"What-" Swallowing to lubricate her suddenly parched throat, she tried to speak again. "What do you mean by that? Petrification?"

The amused look grew to become a grin. "Oh the usual. Turning an organic material into an insoluble salt. Only in this case, you'd be the organic and the insoluble salt would be stone. Not sure what type though."

She was totally baffled. "What?"

"You may not have noticed it, especially since you're just coming off that high but most of your hand's already numb."

Ah. So that was why she couldn't feel her hand!

Instead of talking, she closed her eyes and opted to deal with whatever euphoric high she'd just gotten on.

When she opened them, the blond's amused look was replaced by a more impressed one.

"Wow. You got over that pretty quick. For someone untrained that is."

Now, without that feeling dulling her senses, her eyes sharply narrowed in suspicion as she stared at him. "What was that?"

Of course, the blond chose that same moment to go off on a tangent, talking of how perhaps her training in magic had somehow helped in flushing the 'senjutsu daze' whatever that meant.

Judging by how he hadn't let go of her hand and how that amused look had crept back into his eyes, she just knew he was messing with her.

She didn't like that. Not one bit.

"I said," she ground out between clenched teeth, feeling her magic pushing at her, eager to be let loose, "What. Was. That?"

"Whoo! Okay! I was just messing with you." He raised both hands in mock surrender, casually ignoring the waves of... Well, not _killing_ intent, no, but certainly an intent to do great bodily harm that rolled off her in waves. "No need to get pissed."

Rachael sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He was right. There was no _need_ to get pissed. A desire, yes. Certainly a want. Definitely not a need.

"Better now?" He asked.

"Yeah." She breathed once more to clear away all traces of anger. "Much better. Thanks."

He smiled and leaned back, relaxing on the rock as she sat beside him, close enough to be seen as friends but far enough for all comparisons to stop at friendship. "So, what are you doing up on this lonely rock?"

"I came here to-" she paused in the middle of her sentence before glaring at him and punching him lightly in the shoulder. "Bastard."

"I'll have you know that I knew both my parents and they were happily married before they birthed me."

"Okay. Asshole then."

He arched an eyebrow. "Any reason for the sudden slew of insults? Or is that the typical female mood swing I've come to expect from Kaguya?"

She scowled at him with no real heat behind it. "You know exactly what you did. You did it when Dick, Wally and I first met you!"

He seemed confused but she knew she wasn't imagining the tiny smirk at the edge of his mouth. "I forget. What did I do?"

"You're trying to hide whatever it is you did by casually diverting the conversation to a different topic."

Instead of looking bothered, he beamed. "Impressive! I just knew you were an incredible miss badass! I thought you'd have forgotten that!"

"Talk!" She snapped.

"Okay fine. Geez." The blond raised his hands in mock surrender. "What do you want to know?"

"What did you do just now? And what did you mean by petrification?"

"Back home, I learnt how to immerse myself in the energy of nature. From there, I can choose to absorb a portion of the energy for a bunch of uses but most times I just immerse myself in it to relax."

"And the petrification?"

"Well, as relaxing as immersing myself in natural energy is, the energy itself isn't all that stable. One of the risks associated with doing that, according to the beings that taught me, is petrification; a chance for one to turn himself into stone if the energy is drawn in too quickly or if one's own energy is unstable."

Understanding began to dawn on her. "So when I touched you..."

"You somehow began to draw in part of my nature-infused energy, leading to a destabilization of your own energy and the beginnings of the statue of Raven."

"Oh." There wasn't much more that she could say now that she realized just how close she was to being rid of all her worries. Permanently.

"So, what are you doing up here this beautiful day?" The blond asked with a smile.

"Came to meditate." She replied. "I've got a few spells I want to get down."

"Speaking of, about those spells of yours," Naruto turned to her, now looking a bit more seriously, "I've noticed that you seem to be able to create various effects with them."

The dark haired girl lifted a shoulder in a half shrug.

"Mind telling me a few more ways you can use them? Y'know, besides long ranged assaults."

The question had her stumped for a bit as she tried to figure out a way to answer him without giving too much away. In the end, she settled for telling half-truths. "I've got a few spells for temporarily removing fatigue, some area of effect spells for medium scale damage and others for manipulating landscapes."

The blond certainly looked impressed and had no trouble saying so. "Well, as of right now, you're the most versatile on the team in terms of support abilities."

"What about you?" She asked. "Your abilities definitely outstrip mine in versatility."

It was true, based on what both had seen of each other's abilities but Naruto chose not to give an opinion on that, instead going for a different tact.

"As much as Kaguya and I are a part of this team, my primary priority is to her, something Donna and Kaldur already understand. As such, while we will be present often, we may not be there for some missions and so the team must be prepared for such eventualities."

"So I'm your replacement."

"You're an integral part of this team." He stated firmly. "And you can be rest assured that your place here will NEVER be taken."

Though her face remained impassive, Rachael felt a small part of herself relax at the blond's assurance. She quickly shook it off to ask why he'd brought up the matter in the first place.

"Well... I had a few ideas on how to ensure that you could always work as efficiently as possible on missions."

The offer intrigued her so she decided to hear him out.

"Well, you would have to stay away from the center of the field for the most part being a ranged support fighter but imagine the shock on your opponent's face when they try to close in and you..."

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

"So not only did you know, Bruce, but you actually set up the entire thing?!"

The Batman, or Bruce Wayne since he was currently unhooded, remained impassive as he answered the angry demand of the hero before him. To his side sat Diana of Themyscira, looking just as calm as he in the face of storm.

"You need to understand, Clark, that the group we were tracking were proving to be extremely difficult to pin down." The Amazonian Princess explained their friend wound down. "Frankly, I would not have been as accommodating of the formation of the group had Donna not been captured."

"Combined with the need for independence displayed by some of the team's current members, the need for us to have a contingency in place should anything happen to the League, it was an easy decision to make." The Dark Knight concluded.

"So, to expose some unknown group, you chose to throw together a ragtag team of untested... Untested TEENAGERS!"

At this, both Batman and Diana's eyes narrowed.

"I'll have you know, Clark, that Robin has been working with me longer than Shazam has been a hero. Much longer. So has Kid Flash with his mentor."

"And while neither Aqualad nor Donna have been working as sidekicks to heroes, both have been extensively trained by their mentors. Of which I am one."

"And don't even get me started on either Maelstrom or Shard." A new voice added. The three in the room turned to see Black Canary walk into the room and grab a seat to Batman's left. "Those two could easily be on the League and we'd be all the better for it."

The blonde's words, however, set Superman off again and the man of steel raged on until she silenced him with a single question.

"What do you have against my team?"

For a few moments, the Watchtower was silent, bar the subdued thrum of mechanical power.

Upon recovering from the sudden lack of momentum, the Kryptonian tried to speak before being cut off again by the Canary.

"Oh I know they're not _my_ team. Batman thought up the idea. Himself, Flash and Cyborg set up their base while Wonder Woman and Aquaman volunteered their protégés to the team. Really, I'm just a teacher in a school but like any good teacher I consider them to be my students. So I'll ask again: what logical issue do you have against my students? As a whole or as individuals?"

And that, it seemed, was the problem. The Man of Steel had no logical argument against the team. Experience? The lack of if in some members was more than adequately made up for by the presence of others. Age? As stated by the Amazonian princess, some of them had been much younger when they'd started off with their mentors.

No, the only arguments he had were tied to him, one to his morality, the other to his being.

And the second weighed much more.

"If you're worried about Maelstrom and Shard then you are justified. Their motives are still relatively unknown even though their actions still align with our cause. As such, your worry is noted." The Dark Knight finally spoke.

"However, if it is the presence of young Connor-" Diana's eyes narrowed as she saw the slight jerk of a muscle in Superman's jaw, "-then you must figure out why his presence troubles you so much..."

 **LINE** —~ ~— **BREAK**

"You really have to break this habit Connor." Naruto yawned as he watched the Kryptonian clone push off the wall he'd been thrown into. "I've told you, rage is good if you use it as a tool and nothing else. You let it slip outta your control, though, and you risk having it control you. Which is good if you like being planted face first into walls."

"I know I'll get you someday." Connor growled as he gently massaged his shoulder, the initial point of impact for the sixth and final wall-kissing moment of the day.

"And on that day I'll know I have achieved enough to proceed to level two." The blond grinned, drawing a twisted sense of pleasure from watching the younger teen's face go pale. Since the fight against the Amazo android, he had taken the task of improving his fellow teammates' physical stats, Kaguya included, upon himself especially since Canary had been hurt during the initial fight.

"So... Uh... What was he like? Your friend?"

"Hmm? That's different. You usually ask about how I made it out."

He turned away quickly but still radiated an aura of embarrassment. "Yeah, well, maybe I just wanted to hear something new?"

"Well there's nothing wrong with that is there?" Naruto smiled and told Gaara's story of rage, pain and betrayal as the redhead had told him so many years back.

They were just getting to Gaara's tenuous hold on sanity before Orochimaru had killed Rasa when Cyborg called for a briefing up top.

"Damn. I was really enjoying that." Connor huffed as they walked out of one of the training room.

"Meh, no worries. We'll talk more later." Naruto said as he stretched out, his joints giving off satisfying pops. "I'm just wondering what we'll be up to later tonight."

"Well, whatever it is, I really hope it involves a target I can actually hit." The black haired teen shrugged prompting a smirk to appear on Naruto's face.

"Giving up?"

"You wish! Just need a target I can practicalize your lessons on." Connor shot back with a snort. "Learning outside the classroom and all that."

The smirk never left the blond's face though. "Sure. Keep telling yourself that buddy. Maybe someday-"

"Minato?!"

The sudden yell quieted the Mountain's meeting hall as Naruto and Connor finally noted the presence of two strange faces amongst the familiar ones they were used to. Judging by the looks being passed around, Naruto guessed that it was the female of these strangers that had yelled his name, well, his father's name.

'Huh, she's very pretty. Little bit more lithe than Donna and her arms seem more muscular. Since she's with Canary's boyfriend then I'd hazard a guess and say she's our new ranged fighter. Now then, why'd she call me...'

And then, it clicked.

"Artemis?!"

"You mind going easy on the yelling?" Connor growled, not bothering to keep his voice down. "Super hearing, remember? And since you definitely know her, mind explaining why she called you Minato?"

"It's a story we'd be more than happy to hear _Naruto._ " Dick added with a glare as the two joined the rest of the team.

'Okay, so Dick and Artemis look pissed, Kaldur, Kaguya, Donna, Canary and her boyfriend look amused, M'gann and Cyborg look confused and Raven looks uninterested as usual. Batman seems pissed too but that's almost a default setting. Alright then.' The blond ran a hand through his hair as he looked at the assembled group then let loose a soft string of curses in his native language.

"Anytime now." Artemis snarled at him.

"No he should take his time. I'm enjoying this." Green Arrow smirked as he watched one blond wilt under the glares of the other. Of course, he could tell that it was mere acting on the young man's part. Good acting, true, but acting all the same. Still, watching Artemis fly off the handle at someone else was... refreshing.

"Alright." Deciding he'd dragged it out long enough, Naruto finally spoke up. "First off, I am Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. Dad was Namikaze, mom was Uzumaki. However, cause most people think I look a lot like my dad, I tend to use his name in some situations. Like when I met Artemis, only two weeks into being on this world. Old habits forced me into introducing myself under an alias. Hence Minato."

"And you didn't think of telling us?" Dick questioned only to receive a bored eyeroll.

"Sure, why don't you tell me who you meet at five-twenty in the morning on a jog round the block? Not to mention that I hadn't even met you guys back then."

"He's right Dick." Raven shrugged. "Plus, it seemed like a simple mistake."

"Indeed." Batman decided. "Now, to why we're here."

"Nuh-uh!" A very irate blonde archer intercepted. "He can't just get to walk like that. He lied!"

"Well, while you are right, he simply protected himself." Canary put in with a shrug. "Telling a random stranger your identity the instant you meet, particularly on a relatively lonely path in the odd hours of the morning, isn't quite advisable."

Green Arrow fully agreed. "Especially not when your personal and covert identities happen to align. Consider that a lesson."

"Now, if there are no further interruptions..." The Dark Knight trailed off, less out of acceptance and more likely daring there to be any such interruptions before continuing. "This is Artemis, she's to be your new teammate."

"Yay!" M'gann squealed and bounced on her toes for a few seconds before managing to control herself. Her cheeks burned bright red as she realized that most in the room were staring at her. "Sorry. I like big families." She mumbled.

Whatever else was to be shared was cut off as Cyborg raised a hand to his ear and motioned for silence with the other. "Guys. Red Arrow's requesting emergency access to the base."

"I told him where we would be this evening and how to get here." Green Arrow stated, answering the unasked question on multiple minds.

"Grant it!" Batman ordered.

[Recognized: E-01 Red Arrow]

As soon as the Zeta tube light show died down, the group saw the Emerald Archer's protégé walk down the dais pulling off the glasses he had on. "Hey everyone."

"Speedy!" Dick yelled by way of greeting. "Dude where have you been?"

"Don't see anyone else wondering where they know each other from." Naruto groused quietly. "Even had the whole yelling thing."

"Except neither seems particularly shocked about seeing the other." Donna murmured back with a grin.

"Much as I'd love to chat, there's serious business afoot." The newcomer stated as he slipped a data stick into their console. "Doctor Serling Roquette."

'Pretty. Works for Star Labs under the robotics division. Wonder what's-'

" _Abducted_ two weeks ago. By the league of shadows."

That brought Naruto's musings to a grinding halt. 'What the hell do the Shadows want with... Stupid question. _Why_ would they want a professor of advanced robotics?'

By the time Red Arrow finished explaining, the blond had all but stopped breathing. 'If what Kakashi said he saw in just one of the labs holds true for all, then having the shadows acquire that Intel is terrifying. If they _are_ in partnership with Cadmus, though... Fuck.'

The only thing that managed to pierce the dense fog of plans and contingencies his brain was whipping up was the Wallman's shining moment.

 **Line** **—** **—** **Break**

"Any idea what's gotten over Uzumaki?" Cyborg murmured to the two others with him as the team rushed to change and the guests left.

"Unfortunately not." Canary replied as she ran over the data provided by her boyfriend's protégé. "He seemed playful as usual til this information dropped. Then he seemed to go rigid. I couldn't read him after that. He just went blank."

"I'm not surprised. Apart from some Leaguers, he'd have the greatest chance of understanding just how dangerous the shadows could be with info they gain from any research lab." Batman raised his point. "He's likely running through possibilities at the moment, terrifying ones; what if they decide _not_ to go after research but after military secrets? Or national secrets like the nuclear codes?"

Canary was about to ask if that was possible before it clicked in her head. Grabbing the mike, she yelled for the team to head down.

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

The interior of the Bioship was quiet but for the gentle thrumming of the chassis. In the cockpit sat most of the team, strapped in as they were transported across to their target location.

Kaldur, seated behind most of his present teammates and beside the ship's pilot, tried to calm his frayed nerves by running through the plan again and hoping he hadn't missed anything. Thirty two seconds later, he realized the futility of his actions. As long as his mind was locked on Maelstrom's strange behaviour without getting any answers, there would be no rest for him.

'Burdens of a leader.' He sighed as he undid his safety harness and stood up. Leaning over to M'gann's ear, he engaged in a quiet conversation. "How long till we get there?"

"Five minutes, give or take a few seconds."

"Alright then. I'll be at the cargo bay."

"Checking on the others?"

The young Atlantean nodded. "Maelstrom more than others, honestly."

"Okay."

With that done, he walked out of the cockpit, the ship's walls irising open and shut as he walked through the sections. The simplicity of its design, to him, marked the high level of its elegance: two compartments separated by a single wall, the pilot and passengers having the freedom of either walking straight into the cockpit or going through the cargo bay first.

The bay typically, much like the cockpit's default setting, was an empty space since the ship would create storage compartments as needed.

Right now, though, it had two perfectly round portals open in its walls, providing external views for those that stood at them.

To the right stood Artemis, silent, possibly contemplating something of importance to herself while to the left stood Maelstrom and Shard, both communicating in such quiet tones that only the slightest movements of their lips indicated that they were even talking.

His targets in sight, Kaldur walked up to them, pausing about six feet from them and coughing gently to maintain all appearances of manners. He'd come to know these two, quite well over the past few weeks, and he knew that both had acutely developed senses, Naruto more so than Kaguya, and could rarely ever be snuck up on. The few times it had 'happened' in the cave, he knew the blond had only let M'gann and Wally have their fun.

"Kaldur." The blond, now dark haired (as was his habit in costume) offworlder nodded curtly. "Is something wrong?"

"Forgive me the intrusion, Maelstrom, Princess, but I observed that ever since the briefing of the mission, you have been very terse, particularly you, Maelstrom. Is something wrong?"

Instead of replying instantly, Maelstrom let out a long breath and then went silent.

When the silence felt almost stifling, the Atlantean began to apologize for his intrusion before being cut off by a gesture.

"Forgive us Kaldur'ahm, we didn't mean to be rude. As we told you and Donna, Naruto and I are used to working alone and as such keeping our own counsel."

Naruto took over at that point. "As regards this mission, though, I've just been a bit... well, terrified of the ramifications the Doctor's swarm could bring."

"I think I understand-"

Again he was cut off, though by Naruto this time. "Not really. Kaldur, during the Santa Prisca op, you discovered that Sportsmaster, a known member of the League of Shadows, was trying to get away with the finalized Kobra serum. Now we learn that the Shadows intend to utilize this Fog to obtain information. Imagine if they were to obtain information like the launch sequences to the nuclear armaments of this country." Upon seeing the horrifying possibility dawn on the younger man, Naruto placed a hand on Kaldur's shoulder and said, softly; "Now imagine them having information on how to create new, more deadly bioweapons. Start from those two and work outward. Factor in the fact that we have no idea where the Fog is or its target. Then you'll understand just why I seemed so terse."

For a few moments silence reigned and the Uzumaki observed that Artemis had adjusted her stance to listen in a bit better. He shrugged mentally, knowing that nothing but the truth, a slightly diluted version of it at least, had been said.

Just as Kaldur was to attempt speaking again, M'gann's voice called over the comms to tell them that they had only a minute till they landed.

"I'll let everyone else know what you just told me." Kaldur stated. "However, I need both of you for something slightly different."

"We're listening."

"As soon as we identify a leader among the Doctor's 'reacquisition squad', I want both of you to take them down hard and fast. Get the location of the Fog from them as fast as you can. I'll free up M'gann as soon as I can so she can help."

"You're catching on quick Kaldur, however you aren't considering something: by the time the assassins get here, the Shadows could easily have raided a few facilities. In fact, I'd do that if I were in charge of this kind of a job." Maelstrom shook his head. "No, even with your plan, we still need to be preemptive. Have the Doctor begin tracking the Fog the instant we meet her. Once she has a location we can then make our move."

The Atlantean nodded. "Understood."

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

Hidden within the trees outside the school's computer lab, Naruto was forced to stifle a sigh. What was it with kids and stupid arguments? Honestly! Even after Kaldur had explained just how dangerous the Shadows could be with the Fog, and knowing that the young Doctor Roquette was hooked into the mental link with them, Kid Flash just _had_ to antagonize Artemis who just wouldn't back down. Back home, such behaviour would have resulted in the squad leader taking the offenders home physically broken before Tsunade stepped in, docking their income for half a year while they served as janitors for the Academy. And that was if the mission succeeded.

Abruptly, the mental chatter faded to a gentle hum and he felt a slight nudge of the mental link.

~Maelstrom? Are you okay? You've been really quiet.~

'M'gann? We need to be quiet so the Doctor can work.'

~Oh, I um sectioned off this line so I could talk to you without adding to the chatter.~

'Alright. I've been quiet because missions like these require silence and constant vigilance so we don't miss anything.'

~Oh. You really have a lot of experience at stuff like these.~

'Joys of the job I suppose.'

~Well, I just wanted to be sure you're okay.~

And with that, the voices gradually returned, just in time for him to hear the Doctor go off on a frustrated rant as to how distracting 'teen-speak' echoing in her head was before mouthing about her 'brilliant science'.

'Doctor your science is currently in the hands of a criminal organization. To them, it is a weapon.' He stated curtly, the cold, hard fact shutting the woman up as firmly as his dispassionate voice had. 'Now, can you track it?'

~No harm will come to you. I promise.~ Aqualad added, his words mollifying and cajoling her to speak.

~I can.~

Though nothing more was said, he felt the Atlantean's tension a few seconds later. ~Everyone be ready. We're on the grid.~

~Found it! It's somewhere in Philadelphia.~

~Miss Martian! Reconfigure the Ship for non-Martian piloting. Superboy, Robin, head out. You'll likely be behind the attack but see if you can capture their on-site manager.~

'If I may, Aqualad, I'd suggest that we move the Doctor onto the Ship and we all stay here.'

It was a testament to how strange the suggestion was that no one said, or thought, anything.

~Explain.~

'If we send a unit out, we'll be stuck chasing the Fog. If, however, we have Robin and the Doctor-'

~I have a name!~

'-on the Ship, using its more powerful onboard systems to work, then we may be able to expand our options.'

~Expand our options... How?~ Robin asked, his curiosity peaked.

'With you and the Doctor working together, we have at least two options: regain control over the Fog via hacking into it's processors or creating a virus to destroy it completely.'

~You want to WHAT?!~

'Destroy your Fog.' He stated dispassionately. 'And frankly, I believe that's our best choice. We need to work on the theoretical belief that they're already working on cloning your project. You may think the important things are in your head but a team of professionals will usually crack an already created work faster than you'd expect. Heck, even if it isn't destroyed, the Shadows retaining the blueprints is

extremely dangerous because they'd have more time to recreate and then advance your work. Destroying it allows us to cut them off at the knees and then you can recreate it with much better security measures.'

~I have to admit... That does sound more logical than simply chasing them.~ Artemis said.

~I don't recall you being allowed to talk newbie!~ Kid Flash snapped.

~Enough!~ Aqualad snarled. ~That is impolite Kid. Artemis is right; Maelstrom, we'll go with your plan. Robin, grab a laptop for Doctor Roquette and hook it up to the Ship's onboard processors. Raven, Superboy, head out with them for protection. As soon as you're in, take the Ship a thousand feet up.~

~That would be the safest route to take.~ Donna agreed. ~Alright then. We already heard the plan so let's move. The Shadows will be here any moment.~

~Too late. They're already here.~ Shard stated and Naruto could have sworn he heard a note of grudging respect in her mental voice. ~About two hundred feet out. Two male, one female. It seems like the girl wears the pants in this relationship.~

~Alright then. Miss Martian, camouflage the Bioship and get it to the roof. Then return here and impersonate the Doctor. Robin, get your team to the roof and proceed as planned. Maelstrom, Artemis, take the leader. She may hold valuable information. Shard, continue as you were. They may have back up. The rest of us are to apprehend the other two.~

~Maelstrom, the girl's headed toward you. At her current heading, she'll pass ten feet to your left in about thirty seconds. Artemis, that's about forty feet northwest of the gate.~

'Heading out.'

~On it.~ Artemis stated.

With the new directives received, the shinobi moved stealthily across the distance, mentally blocking out the sounds of all but Aqualad, Artemis and Shard's voices.

Unlike the few opponent's he'd had to go against in this world, this was someone who had apparently trained in the arts of stealth and assassination. He doubted she'd be anywhere close to his level but, considering the stakes tonight, he decided to take no chances.

Less than fifteen seconds after he'd arrived at the specified location, he saw his target melt out of the shadows. She had a lithe body, more so than Donna or Canary that had him believe that she was more of a hit and run fighter than an up close combatant. Her face was concealed by a mask of some sort with long black hair flowing out the back and strapped to the sides of her green clad waist were a pair of sai.

With only the slightest of sounds that could easily have been taken for the wind blowing through the leaves, Maelstrom drew two senbon and flicked them at the girl, one hiding in the shadow of the other.

As he'd expected, the girl was capable enough to draw her said and knock the leading senbon out of the air. Unfortunately for her, very few could ever master the art of shadow weapon concealment like he had and so even fewer expected it. The second senbon hit home, embedding itself into her left upper arm.

She yanked it out swiftly but it was of no use. He'd never have the aim of Haku or Tenten but, thanks to Anko and her poisons, he likely wouldn't need to.

She dropped to the ground six seconds after the senbon struck and just in time for Artemis to run into the clearing, arrow already drawn and half nocked.

After watching for a few more seconds, the shinobi decided that the blonde archer's reaction to the assassin's person could be questioned later; they were on a mission.

A short shunshin teleported him to her side, prompting her to jump a foot back and pull the arrow back to full draw.

"Impressive. You moved from half alert to fully prepared in less than two seconds. And your arrow's pointed right at my head." He appraised as he bent to pull the mask off the girl's head. She was a pretty thing, with her angular features and slanted eyes. Too bad she'd gotten in with the Shadows.

"Mi- Maelstrom!" The Archer caught herself before gasping out his name. "You scared me!"

"Then you shouldn't be out on missions." He replied a bit harshly as he scooped the drugged girl into his arms and stood up. Then, he sighed. "That was unnecessarily harsh. I'm sorry. What I meant was that you were, and still are, on a mission. You can never, under any circumstances, let your guard down. You just saw an assassin slump and your first reaction was to close the distance? What if she was faking in an attempt to kill you? You think you'd have been able to react fast enough to stop her?"

"Well yeah!" She shot back. A few seconds later; "Maybe." Then; "Probably not."

"Hence my first reaction to your comment on me scaring you." He stated. "On missions, your aim must be on achieving the desired end result. As such, your focus must be on everything that can derail you from that."

"And since I have no idea where the derailment can come from... I have to keep my guard up constantly." Artemis finished.

"Exactly." Maelstrom nodded before switching to the mental link the team shared. 'Kaldur, we're done here.'

~Good. I was just about to call in.~ The Atlantean replied almost instantly. ~Donna and Kid Flash took out the larger man with a hook attachment while Megan and I subdued the second one.~

'So where to now?'

~Question her where you feel comfortable at. Being the leader, she may be more knowledgeable than the two I have here. She should at least have an idea who sent her and where they are.~

'Alright then. I'll have Artemis join Shard on the roof for added surveillance.'

~Understood.~

With that clear, he pushed back the mental link and turned to Artemis only to see the archer looking a bit put off. "Artemis?"

"Jeez, now he notices my presence." She replied with an eyeroll. "You realize that the mental link works for the group? I heard you, Maelstrom! We all heard you try to blow me off!"

His brow furrowed in confusion as he laid the assassin on the lawn. "Why do you think I tried to blow you off?"

"Really? 'I'll send Artemis to the roof for added surveillance'. Shard's more than capable of doing that on her own! And you know that! So it's very possible that you're just blowing me off because you're pissed like the Wall-man at not getting another guy to join your band!"

Much to her ire, the shinobi didn't respond, instead, he seemed to freeze for a few seconds before looking up at her. "Cleared your chest yet?"

"You weren't even listening to me!"

"Oh I was. Just wanted to know if you were done with your little anger-fueled rant. Are you?"

She glared daggers at him but remained silent.

"Take that as a yes then." He muttered, more to himself than to her. "Well, Artemis, I'd like to be straight with you. I do not despise your presence as Kid Flash does. As regards blowing you off, I simply felt it would be safer to have an extra pair of eyes on the roof. The decision to stay or leave is yours." He shrugged as he turned to the prone girl before him. Quick as a flash, he cast a False Surroundings illusion on the insensate girl then prepared to administer the antidote of the sleeping drug he'd hit her with. "I'll need you to be absolutely quiet now." He said to the archer before slipping the antidote-coated senbon into the assassin.

Nothing happened for the first few seconds. Then, abruptly, the girl's eyes snapped open. However, the eyes seemed... unfocused.

"Report." Maelstrom commanded.

"I failed master." The assassin replied concisely.

The blonde put in a false growl before asking her how.

Her illusion-addled mind swiftly worked to provide a cover story.

"Did they follow you?" Maelstrom asked. At the same time, he called on the team leader. 'Kaldur be sure to note down the next couple of words.'

"No master."

"How did you get here?"

The assassin's brow furrowed in confusion. "Master?"

"I want to know your route to ensure that you were not followed girl!" He replied snappishly.

"Forgive me master." The girl replied humbly before rattling off a series of directions.

~Maelstrom, I have the directions. What now?~

~Robin should be able to work out the location by reversing the directions.~ Kid Flash said.

~Alright then. Maelstrom, secure your prisoner and leave her outside the gates. I'll alert local security on the presence of these criminal elements.~

'Got it.' He replied. He then pulled out a roll of ninja wire and set to work.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?" He asked without taking his eyes of his work.

"Get her to reveal information like that!" Artemis shot back with an exasperated cry. "I know he- the Shadows! They're trained extensively to resist nonconsenting information extraction methods!"

Once again, the shinobi took notice of her slip up but said nothing of it. "As you said, they are trained to resist _nonconsenting_ information extraction methods. The drug I slipped into her system creates an illusion that I can mold to my will. By taking her memories and crafting an illusion that puts me in a position of power that she actively recognizes, her mind is deceived into releasing the information with her consent." He answered, yet again muddling truth with lies to hide the full extent of his abilities.

Artemis, though she'd seen him work, still seed a bit skeptical. "So, what, you could ask her for anything and she'd tell you?"

"No." He grunted as he secured the loose ends of the wire with an intricate series of knots that would drive the regular person near-insane to undo. "No. Being in the illusion as a figure of authority, I could only ask questions that lay within my area of influence or that her mind is familiar with whatever she sees me as asking. Take my question of her route. Though it was within an area of influence I could ask, it likely struck her as a strange question hence her hesitation." With the girl secured, he carried her and headed toward the gates.

"Sounds impressive."

"It is not without its flaws." He replied. "Now please join Shard on the roof. We need to know our next move and to to that we must speak to those in the Ship. I will join you quickly."

The blonde archer seemed ready to argue as was her nature before sighing, nodding and reversing her direction.

 **LINE —~ ~— BREAK**

"So Robin, Doctor, any good news?" Kaldur asked as he boarded the Bioship with the rest of the team.

"Aqualad! Great! I was just about to call in." Robin exclaimed as he swung away from his console. "Good news is that we've hacked our way back into the Fog's systems. It's not perfect but we can cause some chaos to slow them down."

"The virus is about sixty three percent done." Roquette added as she typed away at the laptop in front of her. "Once ready, we can upload it and it will trigger the implosion command I embedded into the nanobots, destroying the Fog."

"What about the information they've already obtained?" Donna asked. "Is there any way to destroy it?"

"That's the problem." Robin said and turned back to his console. "Whatever network they've got? I can't get in. I've tried everything; from worms to Trojans, heck I've tried methods I created myself for hacking. Their firewall is good. We could only get the Fog because they haven't integrated it's systems into their network."

"Have you tried slipping through the backdoor link connecting them to the Fog?" Kid Flash asked.

"First thing I tried. Nada."

"In that case, we'll work with what we've got." Aqualad stated. "Do you have a location for the Fog?"

"They're en route to the next target: WayneTech." Robin answered. "We can be there a few minutes after them if we head out now."

"We will. Cyborg was able to locate where the Fog transmitted its acquired data to. It matches the location we were given. As such, Maelstrom, I need you to work with Shard, Artemis, Kid Flash and Wonder Girl." Aqualad ordered. "Your primary objective is to shut down their data stores by any means possible. Secondary objective is to take down as many Shadows as possible without losing any teammates."

"Understood. How do we get there?"

"I've crosschecked the location, it's along the way to where we need to be. We can drop you off..." Robin paused as he pulled up a map of Blüdhaven and zoomed in to a point. "Here. Top of this apartment complex, two hundred meters out."

"It will do." Maelstrom nodded. "We'll head back to that spot and await extraction when we're done."

"Miss Martian, head over to the drop zone."

— **~ ~—**

End.

Now, to address a few complaints:

On the clones: Naruto needs an information network and he sure as hell isn't gonna be relying on the Leaguers. Nope. I know I called them 'blood clones' but that was a bit of a misnomer as you will see later in the chapter.

On Naruto's attitude:

Is he OOC? Possibly. At least, compared to canon goofball Naruto, then yes. However, like I have hinted at, this isn't canon-Naruto. To begin with, he was trained a lot more than in canon. I know I threw in a number of references to this fact like his taijutsu style and how it was developed. Second: he's experienced loss. The kind of loss canon-Naruto never did. He lost some of his escort during the War, people he'd worked with way more than Neji according to my timeline. That affected him. Then, having Sasuke sacrifice an integral part of himself was a second loss. So no, he isn't OOC, he's still the guy you grew up knowing and elements of that Will keep on showing. However, he won't be playful every moment.

On Naruto being a casual dude and not being all 'I am BADASS! FEAR ME!': I always considered this as odd. So because you're powerful means you should be stupidly rude to others? If you like it, fine. But I don't subscribe to that. He will be put into conflicting situations with the League but I see no reason why that has to be the central motive of the fic.

On the seemingly linear plot: I know its linear. I know it closely follows canon. However, I think the differences between this and canon are now showing up. This was my intention; to have canon divert as a result of Naruto and Kaguya's actions not just to throe them into a random situation just because I can and label it 'Young Justice.'

On Naruto's power levels: the fact that he has the power doesn't mean he has to use it every time. That just means Bats has a greater chance of at least neutralizing it later on. Plus, I never nerfed him. Against Darkseid? Read again; I never stated that his attacks actually really damaged the big guy did I? Against Amazo? Sure, have him go all out against the thing that already copied aliens, pseudo-magicals and metahumans' abilities. That's bloody brilliant.

On the gudodama: I know they destroy their targets on contact. However, I'm gonna exercise some of that 'artistic license' and say that the orbs primarily negate chakra. Please just roll with it.

Please Read and Review.

The Ethereal Lord.


	10. Chapter 10

A quick word; this chapter starts off a few minutes after the last and continues on to just after midnight. Okay then, let's go.

 _ **A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 10**_

"Well, this is odd." Shard frowned as she scanned the target location, prompting the others to gather in close. "Kid Flash, what do you see when you look at the complex?"

The speedster seemed confused. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think she means, genius? Open your damned eyes and give the complex a once over!" Artemis snapped at him.

"I don't recall asking for your thoughts Blondie!"

"And I don't recall Shard asking for either of your immaturity." Maelstrom barked, forcing the two to a terse stand off. "Now, Kid Flash, switch to infrared and count off how many bodies you see in there."

The brunette speedster, upon hearing his squad leader's order, huffed and broke of the glare-fest he'd been locked into with the blonde Archer and activated his goggles' infrared filter.

"The buildings seem to match what we're seeing, three rectangular warehouses arranged in a U shape, three trucks in the open space." He reported. "I'm counting sixty four heat signatures that match typical human ranges shared between the buildings equally along with one that could be a large computer databank at work."

"It matches most of what I've seen." Shard stated. "However, I see a large, oddly shaped structure sitting smack-dab in the center of the large space. Any ideas what it could be?"

"No idea." Kid Flash replied. "Maybe you're seeing something that isn't there?"

"She is." Maelstrom agreed. "And that's the problem."

Silence reigned for the next couple of seconds before Maelstrom spoke again.

"Alright. Our priority here is their network data bank. Considering who we'll be going up against, we'll need to split up into three groups; one to infiltrate the base and deactivate the data bank and the other to act as a very loud and flashy cover for the first group."

"Thus drawing the bulk of their attention away from our primary objective." Donna mused. "It could work. I take it I'm with Kid Flash?"

The shinobi nodded. "You are. Artemis and I will head out first and then you'll make your move ten seconds after I give the signal."

"What'll the signal be though?" Donna mused.

"Since they'll have to maintain radio silence in there, the signal could simply be a series of static in an agreed pattern." Kid Flash suggested. "Maybe a pattern of five?"

Maelstrom nodded at the idea. "Simple but effective. If comms get jammed, though, I'll send Shard a distress signal of our own."

"I'll be the lookout." Shard replied. "Should anything come up, I'll let you know."

Maelstrom nodded and pulled out a flash drive. "Robin and Cyborg designed this drive. It contains a virus that will chew through whatever data's stored on their systems before triggering a total system meltdown. It's a simple 'plug and play' device so Artemis, you'll be in charge of getting this plugged into the data bank while I take point and weather any attacks we face."

Artemis, however, seemed to take this as a slight to her own capabilities and crossed her arms across her chest with a glare leveled at him. "I'm more than capable of weathering any attacks I face."

"Do you have to be so God-damned difficult?" Kid Flash snapped before being silenced by Donna's hand on his shoulder.

"Judging by what I've seen of you and by Canary's comments, you certainly are a capable fighter." The team's leader spoke calmly. "However, not to sound conceited or anything, I am a more capable fighter. I could give you examples but instead I'll let you see me work so you can decide yourself." He took a few steps away from the edge of the building as he spoke. "Until the end of this mission, however, you **will** follow my lead."

And, having said his piece, he streaked forward, snaking an arm around the defiant blonde's waist an instant before he leapt off the edge of the building.

After watching the shinobi clear the distance to land lightly on the fence closest to the building on the right, Donna turned to her companions, a hint of a smile on her features. "I find myself believing that she will be impressed."

Kid Flash scoffed. "That stubborn thing? Not likely."

"Five dollars say I'm right." The Amazonian grinned challengingly.

"You're on!"

—~ ~—

 **Naruto's POV**

The instant my feet leave the edge of the building, I summon the wind to encase us in a sphere that spins fast enough to bend light rays around us, effectively rendering us invisible. By this time, we've reached the peak of the jump's arc and are now rapidly descending toward the warehouse on the right. A little nudging with chakra and the winds carry us closer to the fence and I latch onto it. A swift check shows that none of the topmost windows are shut so, with a quick rebound off the wall, I dive through the nearest and cling onto a rafter.

"Climb on." I whisper to Artemis who quickly shimmies up. When I'm sure that she's stable, I pull myself up as well, letting the swirling winds around us go.

On an unrelated side note, I'm actually impressed. She'd just been an unwilling passenger on what had to be an odd flight and not once did she even squeak.

"Where are we?" Though her voice doesn't even waver, the question explains why she was so calm: her eyes had been closed the entire trip.

"About halfway down the building to the right." I reply as I watch the patrolling shadows on the lower levels of the building. "We need to head down and make our way to the central warehouse."

"Well then call in the distraction."

I shake my head as I map out a mental route of our movement. "We need to be close enough to the central building, maybe even the data banks for the cover to be effective. They aren't stupid; the instant the distraction begins, they'll send reinforcements to guard the banks. We need to be ahead of those."

She purses her lips and says nothing more.

I use the silence to crunch numbers and smooth out our 'travel plan'.

"Alright. I'll need you to follow my lead and trust whatever I do."

"What, grabbing me along for the ride's not good enough?" She whispers, the question carrying quite a bite despite its seemingly playful tone.

Too bad we haven't got a time to spare; I think I've got one or two 'Jiraiya' responses that would really get under her skin. Ah well. "Just let me deal with the guard below us before you land, okay?"

With that, I drop off the girder and, moments later, bring down a patrolling shadow with my weight. Then, I push off the poor idiot I landed on and send him deeper into unconsciousness with a few jabs at specific locations. A few more and his muscles are locked stiffly. He'll be like that for the next hour or so by which time we should be done here. A subtle glance up shows that Artemis is about to make the trip down so I swiftly activate the rinnegan and scan through the guy's mind for relevant information about this place with the ningendo. He's a grunt but he'll do.

"So, what's next, o great leader?" Artemis asks as she lands beside me.

"Now, we roleplay." I reply as I stand. A quick transformation and I look exactly like the guy I just took down. "I'll be the Shadow and you'll be the hostage."

The scowl on her face shows what she thinks of my plan.

—~ ~—

Artemis was pissed.

The thought that the cute looking guy she'd met a few weeks ago had casually led her on with a fake name was one reason. The fact that he was on a team she was unwillingly being shipped off to by Canary and Arrow was another. Pile on the perception that most of the male 'teammates' considered her inferior to the 'prime sidekick choice' of Speedy and she was seriously considering dropping out of the whole 'hero' gig.

It was only the thought of bringing her sister home to their mother that spurred her on.

'Although even that doesn't feel like enough motivation right now.' She thought with a pronounced scowl as she was jostled forward under the blank glares of the patrolling Shadows. 'Damned bastard's enjoying this way too much.'

The man behind her, matching the appearance of a Shadow, was one of her new teammates. Naruto, or as she'd known him, Namikaze Minato.

He'd asked her to watch him work mere seconds before forcing her into a situation where she'd been all but forced to watch him work.

So far, she was unimpressed.

She was jolted out of her thoughts as he grabbed her hand, forcing her to back up into his chest.

"Play along." The murmur was so quiet and well timed that for a fleeting second, she wondered if it had been her imagination.

A tiny nod, concealed by her seemingly defiant movement away from him was her response as she used the movement to take in a quick glance at her environment.

They stood before a cordoned off section of the central warehouse. Directly in front of them, stood three figures; a formal looking couple, a blonde and a brunette, facing the transparent wall and a stocky man with a grizzled appearance that faced them with impassive eyes set into a granite face.

Her 'captor' spoke to the grizzled man. "Master, I found her attempting to sneak into the facility."

The Master said nothing at first, simply staring into her eyes until he found whatever it was that he sought. "Green Arrow's latest sidekick-"

"I'm no one's sidekick!" She cut in venomously. Perhaps a bit too much, she thought but it played along her role so she didn't bother herself too much about it.

It wasn't like anyone cared anyway.

"Where are her weapons?"

"They are with my leader of my patrol." The disguised Maelstrom replied, sounding so submissive that, for a split second, even she was convinced. "Forgive me if I have committed an offence, Master, but I deemed it necessary to minimize the risk of her escape."

Upon hearing this, the blonde Archer snarled angrily, again playing her part.

The Master, after a few moments of thought, turned to the silent couple and bowed deeply. "Lady Markov, Mister Kennedy, I believe we are about to be attacked. I request your assistance to protect the databanks while I prepare our defenses."

Behind her, Artemis felt Maelstrom tense for the briefest of moments upon hearing the names before relaxing again. Did the names mean something to him?

"We will do as you requested." The female replied in a bland tone that gave away nothing but her gender.

"Leave your man with us." The brunette stated in a carefully controlled tone. "And send in reinforcements."

"As you have commanded." The Master bowed again before leaving via a concealed side exit.

The instant he was gone, Artemis activated the tiny comms device Maelstrom had carefully strapped to her knuckle by rubbing her thumb over it.

The static it generated was the signal.

Silence.

"How did you manage to catch her?" The woman, Lady Markov, asked without turning to glance at them.

"She had just taken out my partner when I walked up to her." Was the smooth reply as a tremor rocked the facility. Probably the black-clad Amazon making her entrance. "She was occupied trying to tie him up and I used her distraction to my advantage."

"And the patrol leader simply let you bring her in?" Kennedy, this time.

"He acted as he saw fit."

Silence again, save for a few muffled grunts and groans.

"You deserve a commendation." Kennedy said as he turned, revealing a rugged face with deep set blue eyes. He was unsmiling but Artemis took that to be his 'default until further notice' face. "Your swift decision making will be rewarded to foster more of such."

Artemis noticed something as the man spoke. The disguised Maelstrom seemed to be getting more relaxed as the brunette man spoke on.

Then, quite suddenly, her body jerked as Maelstrom swiftly pulled her to the side. A quick glance at the spot she'd just been forced to vacate revealed a brand new feature, a spike whose tip occupied the same spot her _head_ had just left.

"Your senses are enviable, Lady Markov," The Master stated, inclining his head as he walked out of the side exit, followed by a dozen Shadows. "to have sensed their entry from here."

"Stick to the plan." Maelstrom warned quietly as his disguise seemingly bled off him and he handed her weapons over. Then, in a louder tone, he spoke to the couple: "He's right. Those senses are admirable. May I at least know how we were found?"

"Easily." Markov replied shortly. "Surrender and your deaths will be swift."

"Maybe some other time." He smiled before blurring away, heading toward the Master. At the same instant, the older man and Kennedy dove forward, Kennedy in the lead.

Artemis, on the other hand, was busy fending off the other Shadows, relying solely on hand to hand combat as they never gave her an inch of space.

The fight seemed balanced, with neither side gaining an advantage over the other until Markov struck.

—~ ~—

 **Naruto's POV**

The instant I'd heard the old man call that girl 'Lady Markov' I'd known we were fucked. Kennedy had told me that the blonde had incredible talent at manipulating the earth and was even capable of sensing and differentiating people based on their walking patterns. He still hasn't been able to figure out her range but that didn't matter, not when we were standing right in front of her. As such, it was no surprise that she'd tried to kill Artemis and I.

Now, in the midst of a fight with the old man and Kennedy, I'm wondering why she hasn't struck out again.

On an unrelated side note, I've got to find a way to thank Kennedy after this. The crazy guy's been intentionally fighting out of sync with the old man to disrupt the flow of the fight in my favour.

When she finally strikes, the only warning I have is a slight rumble in the ground. I react instantly and create a bubble of wind chakra beneath my feet and releasing it a split second later, the miniature explosion sending me straight up just before four spikes shoot out of the ground to impale the spot I would have been had I stayed behind. With the slight reprieve I have, I turn to see Artemis constantly being placed on the defensive by her opponents.

Time's wasting, though. The fact that Markov knew we were coming and stood casually, watching the data storage systems in the cordoned off section makes me believe that they've made provision for the data to be transferred from here to another location.

That absolutely needs to be stopped.

With the decision made, I appear by Artemis' side with a shunshin and grab an incoming fist. With a slight twist, I hurl the shadow back at another of his group before jumping forward and taking another out with a palm strike that likely shattered his jaw.

"Get going!" I say as I unseal a pair of chakra conducting short staves. "I'll deal with these guys."

I streak forward without waiting for her response and I'm able to knock out two more shadows with strikes to their temples before they're able to react. As I'm about to move to my next targets, I hear four twangs and, almost instantly, four shadows drop to the ground from the blunted arrows striking their foreheads dead center.

Tch. Stubborn girl.

Now I'm left with four generic shadows, their Master, a powerful earth manipulator and Kennedy.

I allow the tiniest smirk to cross my face.

Even with me holding back to avoid my skillset getting into the hands of the enemy, this will be way too much fun.

— **~ ~—**

The moment Artemis activated the comms device-cum-signal beacon, Donna leapt right into the air in a feat similar to Maelstrom's. Then, with a bit of aid from her flight ability, she angled herself in the direction Shard had said the strange object was located, crossing her forearms in front of her to bear the brunt of whatever impact she would be receiving, and rocketed toward it.

She had no idea exactly what she was going to hit or even when she would hit it, she just trusted the white haired offworlder's word.

Those words were verified as she felt the hairs on her arms stiffen an instant before she tore through whatever object Shard had seen. The instant she felt no resistance against her arms, she spun in air to smash into the ground beside on of the trucks around the now destroyed object, setting loose a powerful tremor that reverberated through the compound.

Something rubbed her the wrong way about this though. Maelstrom had spent the past few days teaching them to read their environments and draw likely conclusions and this fell right into the first lesson. There was no sign of alertness; no rush to find out the cause of the obvious disturbance of the status quo.

'They were expecting me! Or at least, expecting-' Her train of thought was cut off as Shard barked a harsh command at her over the comms. Sparing not even a second, she leapt up again, flying about fifteen meters straight up before daring to glance down again. The sight before her confirmed her suspicions as she watched the lumbering blue creature, Blockbuster, smash its way out of the truck while hordes of shadows poured out of the buildings.

-Looks like the ruse worked.- Kid Flash's smirk easily carried over the comms. -I'll take the foot soldiers, you keep Blockbuster busy.-

"Understood."

Two things happened in the next second: first, a yellow blur sped into the facility, disarming the Shadows as it went by; the second was more attention grabbing as Donna dropped down like a stone to ram a ground shaking punch into Blockbuster's noggin.

Landing a few feet away from the blue creature, Donna watched as it staggered back one step before roaring in rage and charging at her.

Kid Flash, on the other hand, had just wrapped up with the rabble, having used single, high velocity taps to the base of the skull to knock them out. Now, his eyes were locked solely on the blue monster as it traded punches with Donna while he waited for a chance to get into the fight.

— **~ ~—**

"It's a plug and play device, he said. Just plug it in and watch it go to work." Artemis hissed as she snuck around the storage room, searching for a single USB port. "Did he consider the Shadows' paranoia? Nope. Definitely not. Moron."

It was honestly quite frustrating; the League of Shadows' paranoia had made them build the storage facility without any access ports save for those at the central console, the very same console Green Arrow's newest protégé was having difficulty finding.

"Follow my lead and decide for yourself. Tch, arrogant ass-" Only deep seated instinct and hard earned reflexes had her whipping her head to the side a fraction of a second before an object- _likely a shuriken,_ her mind swiftly offered- tore right past her cheek. Even with her swift reaction, she was too slow to completely avoid damage, as evidenced by the thin line the weapon left in its wake.

'I'll weather any attacks, he said.' She thought angrily as she ducked into a shadowed section of the room, straining her ears to pick up any sounds 'Well fuck you very much ya bastard!'

For the next few minutes not a sound could be detected and the tension in the room was almost palpable.

Knowing that she couldn't wait for her attacker to find her, Artemis shot forward, diving for an enclave between storage banks. The moment she'd rolled into the new spot, she swiftly pulled a strobe arrow out of her quiver and snapped the arrowhead off. Now came the difficult part: to throw or not to throw?

'If I toss it, there's a chance that they might try to find the strobe. On the other hand, they're likely expecting that so they might ignore this and just try to find the source of the throw, particularly if I make it sound like it was thrown.'

Both choices seemed solid and each had its advantages.

In the end, she chose to do walk the path less trod.

She'd probably have been a lot less likely to choose that option if she'd known that it was exactly what 'the bastard' would have chosen.

With a slight upward flick, the strobe was in the air. As it tumbled down, she turned her back on it and prepared to move.

The arrowhead struck the ground and activated, sending out pulsing beams of fluorescent light in all angles.

Artemis didn't move. Her ears strained to pick up any sounds... There! The shuffle of feet!

After taking a few more seconds to deduce their target location and where they'd started moving from, the blonde archer shot off, aiming for the opposite corner of the room. She was gambling on a hunch; that the Shadows had first formed a perimeter around the central console before her ruse had dragged them away. If she was right, the blonde might have sufficient time to plug in the USB before the Shadows returned.

On the bright side, her gamble had paid off and she'd been led to the central console. Her luck, though, ran just short of the condole being fully deserted as she spotted one of the black clad assassins standing at the console. About two feet to his left was a row of ports.

'At least he hasn't seen me.' She thought as she formulated a plan to deal with the obstruction. Reaching into her belt, she pulled out a smoke pellet and the USB then from her quiver she quietly pulled out a blunted arrow and a grapple arrow. Working quickly with skilled fingers, she deactivated the grapple's spring and pulled the triple prongs out wide enough for the USB to fit in snugly to be held by the prongs. Then, taking careful note of the exact location of a port, she carefully nocked the modified grapple arrow and, with a flick of her thumb, she sent the smoke pellet rolling to rest just to the left of the Shadow's feet, right between the assassin and the port. A second later, it exploded, releasing its payload.

Natural, self-preserving, instinct made the assassin jump away from the smoke in the direction of least obstruction. Exactly as Artemis had planned.

Like a well practiced choreography, she stood, turned and released the USB-carrying arrow. She didn't wait for the smoke to disperse, knowing that now that she was out in the open, she was running on limited time, and immediately nocked the knockout arrow and pulled back on the drawstring. No quarter draw as with the modified arrow, this shot would bear the force of a fully drawn drawstring, she decided as she tracked her target. The instant the Shadow stopped moving, she released the arrow.

It was another perfect strike.

She would have stopped to check on the USB but her instincts screamed for her to duck, a mental instruction she heeded instantly dropping into a split mere milliseconds before a sword cut through the air above her head.

'Dammit!' She growled internally as she quickly brought her legs together and rolled away to spring to her feet.

Her opponent was a generic assassin from the ranks of the League of Shadows so she had a fairly decent idea how to deal with him. Smooth as greased lightning, she loosed two knockout arrows at him followed by an immobilization arrow. Each looked alike, save for the immobilization arrow's slightly bulkier frame.

As expected, the assassin blocked the first two arrows with his sword and, not expecting any difference, blocked the immobilization arrow.

"Hook line and sinker." Artemis smirked as she shot a third knockout arrow at the Shadow's forehead. "You guys really need to switch things up."

After a final glance at the now smoking central console, Artemis walked out of the storage room, her part of the mission complete.

— **~ ~—**

In all her years of fighting and having gained experience from various opponents, Terra Markov had to admit, at least to herself, that the man she was up against was definitely a top tier warrior. Likely somewhere between Sportsmaster and Deathstroke.

Wielding those twin staves of his, he had repeatedly sliced her earthen projections into pieces those few times she'd actually been able to get close to hitting him. And that was with Kennedy constantly forcing him to fight on the defensive the entire time.

What made it all the more galling, though, was the fact that she _knew_ he could do better. The data obtained from the Amazo android had hinted at that and the man had confirmed it when, the instant the blonde archer had made her way into the storage room, he'd blurred forward and taken out all four Shadows and their master within moments. It was only Kennedy's quick reaction that had saved her from a similar fate. As if reading her thoughts, he blurred away from Kennedy headed toward her. Her geosensing ability gave her a split second warning that she instantly took, throwing up a barrier of spikes around her as she split the portion of ground she stood on and began levitating it, and by proxy herself, as fast as she could. To her utter shock, she watched as the black clad hero (for what else could he be?) latched onto the tip of one of her spikes with one hand and, in an impressive acrobatic display, pulled himself over the rising barrier to launch a kick that connected solidly with her side, knocking her off her platform. Working through the pain, she softened the earth at the point she expected to land only to be snatched out of the air by her partner a moment before one of their enemy's staves stabbed through the air where her chest should have been.

"Cover fire!" Kennedy said tensely as his feet touched the ground. Without hesitation, she called up all the fragments of earth around her and sent them to converge on their foe's last known location.

Taking advantage of the moment of reprieve, the two quickly moved to stand back to back, their senses stretching to find him.

"He's toying with us in a manner not even Sportsmaster dared." Kennedy murmured. "He kept poking me with his staff."

The part of Terra that was still a young woman and not an enforcer of the Light cracked a smile at the double entendre her partner had just dropped before the Enforcer squished the thought. "He's trying to prove just how superior he thinks he is."

"Well, I have to say it has been an interesting fight against both of you." The man stated as he brushed off some dust from her attacks. "Unfortunately, I've got places to go and people to-" He arched an eyebrow as an earthen spike burst through his chest in a shower of gore. "Done throwing a tantrum? Good. Catch you later."

And with that, he blurred away, leaving not a trace of his presence behind.

 **Kaguya's POV**

It doesn't matter how many times I've seen it already, watching him fight is breathtaking.

Even now, with most of my mind focused on Donna and Wally's fight against Blockbuster, a part of my attention is on him.

He's already taken out most of his opponents, leaving him with just two; a male and a female, both of whom are making plays off each other to level the playing field.

-Package delivered.- Artemis's voice rang out over the comms. -Meltdown in progress.-

-KF, grab Artemis and head back to the rendezvous. Princess, play rearguard. Shard, get in touch with our pick up.-

While the others work on extracting themselves from the building, I switch frequencies to link up with Kaldur.

-Shard?-

"Confirmed. We're done here, you?"

-Just dropped off Dr Roquette. We should be with you in about ten minutes tops.-

"Alright. We'll wait at the drop-" A sudden spike of killing intent behind me is the only warning I have to instant switch my focus from the warehouse up ahead to the building I'm standing on. I spot a small, disk like object flying toward me from behind the rooftop access where a man's crouching. With my options being to either stand there and take the hit by what is likely an incendiary device or directly engage my attacker, the choice isn't really difficult to make.

With a pulse of chakra I release the resistance seals Naruto had been using to enhance my speed in the same instant I blast forward, projecting bone spikes from my wrists as I sidestep the disk to continue my charge.

Whoever it is behind the hatch obviously hadn't considered the possibility that I'd be able to react to his attack fast enough to attempt a direct charge and so is caught unawares as I close the distance to begin attacking. Interestingly, his reflexes are impressively swift as he is able to parry my initial jabs at his head and groin by redirecting my weapons to miss their mark by mere millimeters. He tries to take advantage of the missed strikes by lashing out with an elbow at my exposed midsection but I spin away from the blow and slash at his side in retaliation. He dodges the attack as well and we both use the time to gain space and balance our stances. He's in a pair of black pants with a blue longsleeved shirt. Over this he wears armor that reminds me of the sort worn by hockey players including the mask while his hands are clothed in black gloves. As I watch, he pulls a sleek, double tipped javelin from its place on his back and prepares to resume our scuffle.

At the same time I hear Naruto's voice over the comms telling the rest of our team to stay away as the rendezvous has been compromised. I can feel his presence hovering close by, watching but not interfering, trusting that I can deal with the situation.

I fully intend to prove him right.

"You know, little lady, I'm actually quite impressed that you were able to sense my attack in time to dodge it." His voice sounds harsh and condescending, likely a man that believes himself the epitome of his own skill. I'll be sure to impart a small lesson in humility before I leave. For now, though, I need a few answers.

"I'm also impressed." I reply dryly as I observe his every move. "His did you manage to sneak up on me?"

"I'm sure you ask every fly that lands on you the same thing." He smirks before lunging forward, his weapon forming an intricate pattern around him as he begins the next round.

While I parry repeatedly parry his attacks, I smirk internally, knowing that he answered my question to a deeper degree than even he could have thought. I push the creeping feelings of superiority back, though, as I continually force him to overextend slightly with each strike of his that I parry. Then, when I see a bit of space, I reverse my grip on the spike in my left arm and try to tear through his belly. With shocking swiftness, he pulls back and bends over backward until his hands touch the ground and then tries to catch me in the jaw with a rising kick. I tilt my head as far back as it can go, feeling a rush of wind as his kick narrowly misses me. He continues his movement, turning it into a backflip as I dive toward him, spinning and twisting as I usually do, bringing both spikes to bear against him. I'm pleased to note that he seems to struggle more now as trying to deal with both weapons now that I'm in his space and have reduced the effectiveness of his own weapon.

-Everyone, converge on the rendevous on my signal. Shard. Our ride's a few minutes out. Need any help with him?-

A part of me wants to say no, to prove that I'm capable of dealing with these kinds of threats too.

A part of me wants to impress him, yet I'm not certain if I want to impress the man that saved me or the man that's now my friend.

-+You do not need to impress me, Kaguya,+- he says over the comms, switching to our native language, -+I am already impressed by the strong woman you have shown, and continue to show, yourself as. Now, do you need assistance?+-

Oh for God's sake! Does he even know the effect those kind of words can have on a person?!

-Yes.-

-On my way. Take a step back please.-

Only a few seconds have gone by since his first question and I'm still locked in combat. Upon hearing his request, I feint a jab to my opponent's side and, as he moves to dodge, I take a single step back.

Naruto's assistance, is almost too simple.

He just appears behind the man, already in the motions of delivering a roundhouse kick, so that by the time the man realizes what's going on, his side is practically caved in by Naruto's kick that sends him flying off the roof.

"Thank you." I say, trying to convey the weight of my feelings into those two words. He inclines his head just once yet I feel that he understood me perfectly.

"Dude! That was sweet!" Kid Flash almost yells as he comes to a stop beside us. For a moment, with the way he's cradling her and she's holding him, himself and Artemis almost seem like they could be a couple.

Then, as if sensing how they look, he lets her drop and she, in retaliation, sweeps his legs off the ground with a cry of "Asshole!"

"Jeez KF, it's like you want her to hate you." Donna sounds as amused as Naruto and I feel. "Are we missing something here?"

"I think Artemis lashed out cause she missed the warmth of his arms." Naruto says as he holds an arm out to offer assistance to the blonde archer which she promptly shuns. "Tetchy."

"Honestly you two," I smile, deciding to join in the fun. "you're like a high school pair trying to hide your feelings by being snarky all the time."

"We just met." Wally snaps back and, as though we'd rehearsed it, Donna Naruto and I reply with a chorus of 'Love at first sight!'

"You walked right into that." Artemis says as Wally smacks his own forehead.

"I know."

—~ ~—

 **Metropolis**

"So, what's bothering you, Clark." Kara smiled as she slid back into her seat opposite her cousin's. They were in their favorite 'discussion' diner, a place that afforded its patrons a good meal, music and a decent level of privacy all within a clean and moderately sane environment and she'd just returned from a trip to the ladies room. "I did not make the trip all the way to listen to you awkwardly try to cover up the real reason you asked me to come over."

The blonde caught a hint of guilt in her cousin's eyes before he averted them and tried to deny her statement.

"Come on Clark." She pleaded with a soft smile as she laid a hand on his. "You know, between you and I, that we suck at telling lies and I can see how much whatever's wrong is eating at you. Please talk to me."

For the next couple of seconds, nothing the dark haired man said nothing, allowing the tunes of an old jazz song fill the silence.

"It's the League. Or, more importantly, Batman and a few other Leaguers." He said with a sigh.

Kara, trusting that he'd already activated the silencing field effect of the League issue communicator every Leaguer had, sat back and nodded for him to continue.

"Recently, I came to a pretty shocking discovery; Batman, with Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Canary, Cyborg and a few others, maybe even others I don't know about yet, have created a group that comprises of some of their sidekicks and a few other young people to act as a special, almost shadow cell for the League. They're to investigate leads Batman thinks aren't dead ends as they might seem."

"Interesting." Kara shrugged, not seeing the big deal in what she considered a light issue at best. "It's not a bad idea."

Clark's response was an arched eyebrow. "Isn't it?"

"Honestly? I can't see anything to be worried about." Kara replied. "But why don't you tell me what you think's wrong with it?"

Kara watched her cousin sit back and had a fleeting thought that he'd likely prepared his defense. "Well for starters, Batman should have contacted the rest of the League before starting such a thing. I mean, we're supposed to be protecting the Earth. To do that, we need to trust one another and not make decisions on our own."

"But he didn't make the decision on his own." Kara argued. "I mean, sure, he didn't tell the League as a whole but he did share the idea with others."

"Maybe but he didn't tell the League as a whole." He countered. "That could cause friction later on."

To Kara, it seemed as though her cousin was taking the matter harder than others would but she kept her cool and let him continue.

"Then there's the kind of missions he's having them take. I mean, they're just kids. Putting them on missions that might have them rubbing shoulders with criminals is wrong."

'Is it?' Kara wondered. 'Or are you maybe projecting what you feel should be right?'

"Then there's the choice of his team's members." Clark continued. "I have no problem with Robin, Kid Flash and some others but he has that strange man that appeared during the Invasion. We have no clue what his opinions are or where his loyalties lie. And a clone of me!"

Kara's eyes narrowed as she stared at her cousin. So those were the real issues; Naruto's presence on the team and, apparently, a clone of his. "What do you mean, 'a clone of you'? He can't have cloned you can he?"

"Oh he didn't." The man of steel replied with a glower. "Remember the Sumdac facility bust? Well, contrary to what he said, that was his little group at work. They found a young Kryptonian going by the designation 'Superboy'. Apparently, and it still baffles me how, the facility was able to gather enough genetic material to not only create a clone of me but deage it as well."

Kara's mind churned through the information at sub-light speeds. "Maybe they grew him?"

"That's not the point Kara!" He snapped and only years of tightly leashed control held him back from smashing the table to bits. "Someone out there -maybe even a whole group!- has the means to not only acquire sufficient amounts of my genetic samples to create a clone of me! They potentially have the capability to do it to the entire League! And Batman knew but didn't say a word of it to anyone outside his little cabal!

Like that's not enough, he's endangering the lives of a bunch of kids by putting a trained killer, of whom we know next to nothing about, on an experimental team with them. It's like he's actively baiting trouble!"

Again Kara found herself leaning back to relax in her seat, this time crossing her arms as she went. She said nothing for the next couple of seconds, content with just staring straight into his eyes. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she spoke up again. "You've given me a bunch to think about, Clark, but the way I see there are only two things really bothering you here; the presence of Naruto on the team Batman's built and Superboy.

"So what's really eating at you, Clark?"

It was a question the Man of Steel couldn't truly answer and one his cousin planned to investigate.

—~ ~—

 **Gotham**

The Iceberg Lounge; one of the most exclusive entertainment hotspot in Gotham, catering to the rich and the powers behind thrones.

The _illegal_ powers, often behind equally _illegal_ thrones.

This isn't to say that legal entrepreneurs couldn't enjoy themselves, though. Simply that, quite often, some of those legal entrepreneurs found themselves in the presence of those who either straddled the line or were completely entrenched on the illegal side.

Jade Chan was fairly legal in her dealings, though she wasn't quite certain she could say the same of her client, or at least said client's bodyguards.

"This is amazing!" The client, a young girl that couldn't have been eighteen, had black hair with purple streaks that barely brushed her pale shoulders. "I thought father's research into the Nirvit was a simple hobby or perhaps his trying to verify an old ghost story but this proves that he was on to something."

"Miss Jinx-"

The girl's head snapped up from her perusal of the clay tablet on the table, revealing her soulful brown eyes set into an excited, youthful face. "Just Jinx is fine Miss Chan."

"Then Jade's fine." The artifact-hunter smiled. "I'm surprised, though. For something you didn't put much stock into, you certainly seem to have taken it at face value. It could be a fake."

"Oh I'm certain it's at least as old as you claim." The younger girl replied flippantly. "Stacey's a metahuman and while her gift isn't particularly combat-oriented, it's the perfect match for an archaeologist. Or an antiques collector."

"Is that so?" Jade hummed with a smile as she re-appraised the tall, dark haired woman standing to the left of her client while cataloguing the fact that Jinx, having admitted that her guard was indeed a metahuman whose abilities had little to do with combat, had never implied that 'Stacey' wasn't capable of combat on her own. "Interesting."

"Indeed," Jinx nodded as she leaned back in her seat. "I understand that while you're not a cryptographer or something along those lines you do have an understanding of ancient languages."

Jade inclined her head in agreement. "It's a handy skill to have in my line of work."

"Agreed. So I hope you have no issues sharing your opinions on the meaning of the inscription on this tablet." The younger girl smiled pleasantly as she spoke yet what drew the artifact hunter's attention was the sound of a page being flipped lazily.

Her eyes focused on the most lackadaisical looking man she'd ever seen; a tall, lanky man with gravity-defying sliver grey hair held up by a blue bandanna that was adjusted to cover an eye. He was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a simple, long-sleeved black shirt, he had on a mask that covered the lower half of his face and wore a pair of fingerless gloves that held a little orange book. And while his focus seemed riveted on the book, Jade suspected that should her hand so much as twitch in the direction of the dagger strapped to her thigh, she'd be pinned to the pillar behind her faster than she could blink.

He was that dangerous.

So, with a casual smile, she nodded to Jinx and directed most of her attention to the clay tablet she'd found. "While the first section of the inscription on the tablet utilizes a symbolic imagery style similar to the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt, the second section is of texts common around the Sumerian times. I'd hazard a guess and say we're looking at an ancient Rosetta stone, translated from the original Nirvit language to the Sumerian language."

"And you say it says something about an artifact lost to time?" Jinx asked, trying to keep her excitement leashed but traces of it still leaked out.

"Yes, something about Nirvana if I'm reading the text right."

"Wow." Tears pooled at the corners of the girl's eyes. "Dad's work… it was all real…"

For the next couple of moments, the music of the club took over in place of the sounds of conversation until Jinx had her emotions under control.

"Thank you Jade. It's unfortunate that I can't move extensively to find more of the Nirvit but, as you pointed out earlier, I didn't put much stock into dad's work so I currently don't have enough to push forward with this." The girl sighed, seemingly pained by what she word have to say next. "As such, I'm going to have to call you off actively searching for any more Nirvit artifacts for the foreseeable future. However, I'd like it if you could keep these findings to yourself. I'd like to honour dad's memory by uncovering a new civilization in his name."

Jade mulled over the offer, knowing that it presented both a risk and a fairly decent chance at making a side earning. "How about if I do you one up; I'll keep my eyes open while I'm about and, should I find anything related to the Nirvit, I bring it to you first."

Jinx's eyes grew wide in comprehension, leading Jade to believe that the guards were performed the illegal acts without their lady's knowledge. "Of course! And you get a finder's fee in exchange."

Jade shrugged as she sat back, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. "Wins for both sides."

A brilliant smile graced the girl's features. "Wins indeed! Thank you Jade."

"A pleasure." The dark haired woman smiled as she stood to take her leave. "Is there anything else?"

"That will be all, thank you." Jinx smiled as she stood to shake hands with Jade. "I look forward to hearing from you."

Graciously, Jade accepted the proffered hand before weaving her way through the Lounge's crowd.

"Do you think she'll find anything?" Stacey asked as she watched the treasure hunter.

"Oh she will." Kakashi replied, sounding like the whole thing was barely worth his attention. "She's an accomplished treasure hunter whose results speak for her." He yawned as he flipped a page. "I suppose the real question is whether or not she'll find Nirvana."

"She will." Jinx stated coolly, all traces of the sentimental daughter she'd just assumed gone from her visage. "And that's precisely what we need her for."

—~ ~—

 **Mount Justice**

Standing in the central command room of the Mountain, Naruto and Kaguya analyzed the data arrayed on the screens before them.

"Any thoughts?" Canary asked, noting that the duo still hadn't relaxed after their successful mission.

With a sigh, Naruto, dressed in a pair of cargo shorts and a plain blue shirt, turned away from the screens. "A few," he admitted before shaking his head. "Nothing concrete though."

"Perhaps if we had more time Cyborg and Robin could have created a means for us to access the stolen data." Kaldur said with a tinge of regret.

Kaguya, though, did not agree and set out to make her stand clear. "It was better that we didn't have sufficient time to do such. After all, technology is a two way street. By the sane means we could track them so also, logically speaking, they could do the same to us."

"Kaguya's right." Cyborg agreed. "It's conceivable that I'd simply shunt the data to a safe location that wouldn't compromise us but I opted not to take the risk."

"Back to you, Naruto," Dick said, "you said you had a few thoughts. Mind sharing?"

The blond nodded, picked a marker and moved over to a whiteboard. "Here's the timeline of events since Dr Roquette was abducted," he said as he swiftly drew up a linear path with opposite ends indicating the researcher's capture and her return home in the present. "Now, I don't know exactly when she was abducted but reports say two weeks ago. That, quite conveniently, happens to be a few days after our defeat of the Android. Of course, that may just be conjecture on my part but a few things stand out."

Canary, eyes narrowed as she listened, responded: "Listening."

"For starters, how the hell did the League know exactly what Dr Roquette was working on? I mean, I know a bit about researcher types and I know the one constant is that they guard their projects fanatically. That they knew to snap her up just as her work hit the actualization stage implies that not only had they been keeping tabs on her but that they wormed their way into her life to such a degree that she likely didn't realize until they kidnapped her."

"That... That makes a lot of sense." Dick admitted hesitantly. "We have to question her to find the plant."

"Pointless endeavour." Kaguya countered coolly. "Whoever the plant is, they'd likely have slipped away particularly as the doctor was hardly likely to have more than a single confidante judging by her behaviour while we were on the mission."

Kaldur frowned at her words. "Still, chasing this could lead to us uncovering a member of the league."

"And then what?" Canary asked with a shrug. "If there's anything the Shadows thrive at, it's long term infiltration. By the time you figure out the identity of the plant in Roquette's life he or she would likely be settling into a new one. And, in the exceedingly unlikely scenario that you do catch this plant they'd be more inclined to killing themselves than uttering a single word to aid you." She sighed as she pushed her hand through her hair and shook her head. "No, chasing this is pointless. Continue Naruto."

The blond nodded. "The second thing that stuck out was how Red Arrow found her." He raised a hand to stall Dick's exclamations. "I don't doubt your friend's loyalties. However I do find it suspect that he found the doctor at a point where she had completed the Fog and would be forced into making the choice between the doctor and her work. I believe the Shadows manipulated him into moving their plan forward."

"And what plan are we looking at here?" Cyborg asked.

"You'll understand soon." Naruto said with grim certainty. "The next thing to wonder about is the timing of their attacks."

"At this point even I'm confused." Kaguya admitted with a frown. "The timing?"

The blond nodded. "Judging by Red Arrow's statements on his rescue of the doctor. I believe the Shadows had close to five hours to pillage whatever they needed from any facilities..."

Comprehension slowly dawned on Canary as her eyes widened. "Yet they only made their first move about an hour before Speedy brought in the information he'd gathered."

Dick, though, didn't seem ready to buy into the theory and he made his opinion known. "They could have required the time to understand how to work with the Fog."

"No they would not." Kaldur replied grimly. "One doesn't kidnap a researcher of this level of technology without constantly monitoring them to insure that the hostage doesn't shortchange them. It is likely, more so than not in fact, that a technologically savvy person not only supervised her but also took the time to understand the inner workings of the Fog. In fact, it would explain why they felt the doctor was expendable as they felt they no longer had need of her intellect in regards to the Fog."

"So the question now is simple, so to speak." Kaguya followed up. "What the hell did they do during their free time?"

"They reprogrammed the Fog."

Naruto sent Canary a tight smile, acknowledging that she was, at least partially, correct. "Not so much reprogramming as it was adding a secondary set of instructions into the Fog's core code."

Now that the blond's words had coalesced into a clearer picture, it was no surprise that Dick swiftly lunged forward to grab a seat and a keyboard as Cyborg hooked himself up to the system.

"The Fog, while still operating with the primary objective of sending chunks of data to the Shadows, now had a secondary objective." Dick stated as he pulled up his arsenal of hacking tools and began writing the code for a new program.

By his side, Cyborg analysed the script the young hacker was putting together and making adjustments where he deemed it fit even as he picked up from where Dick had left off: "Quite possibly a more sinister objective; to plant worms into the target system's software, granting them backdoor channels into the secure research of the target facilities."

"With this, they wouldn't need to expose themselves via abductions anymore." Kaldur concluded. "They'd have access to everything, from research notes to blueprints to projects of their choice."

Naruto nodded. "That was likely the initial objective as at when they created this plan. However, with the interference of the Team during the Android recall, they tacked on a second, though significantly less important objective: to draw out the Team."

"That seems unlikely though." Canary rejoined. "I mean, how could they predict that we'd send in the Team?"

"They couldn't." Kaguya answered as a crease formed between her brows. She had a sneaking suspicion that her partner-slash-bodyguard wasn't revealing his entire suspicion to those gathered at the moment but chose to confront him in private. Instead, she continued her line of thought. "The entire setup was still designed to have the Fog infiltrate the systems with malware. The Team's showing up was, at best, a third variable, one that they didn't put stock on."

"So they expected, at least, a few members of the League and made provision for such." Canary concluded. "However, their plan was flexible enough for then to still work with even though we sent you guys instead. Plus, as a hidden bonus, they got to learn more about your capabilities."

"Exactly." Naruto nodded. "We're dealing with an enemy that's capable of building strategies that allow them to accomplish multiple goals in one run. Figuring out who they are has to become a priority, both for the League and for the Team."

"Doesn't this attack prove that we're dealing with the League of Shadows?" Kaldur asked, a question that earned him a shake of the head from both Kaguya and Canary.

"If taken alone, yes." The white haired princess answered. "However, the attack on Santa Prisca showed that Kobra had inroads to the research Sumdac conducted. That Sportsmaster, who attacked me on the roof tonight, was there for a purchase implies that the Shadows have inroads into both, at least enough to know exactly what both were working on and how far they'd both gone. That Kobra chose to sell the first batch to the Shadows as you reported means they were given a chance to utilize the enhanced Kobra Venom before it hit the market."

"There's a connection between those three." Canary agreed. "And as Naruto said, we need to figure out how far the web's been spun and who's at the center."

—~ ~—

 **Happy Harbour**

 **Kaguya's POV**

I wholeheartedly agree with Naruto's yawning declaration as we stretch out tiredly after the day's events. Today has been an interesting day for sure.

"Well, if you need me, I'll be in the kitchen. I'm feeling a sugar craving." He grins as he walks away.

"What, no ramen?" I ask as I follow. He can have his sugar, I'll have a mug of tea.

"Nah. Not tonight."

Upon entering the kitchen, he heads for the fridge while I make my way over to the kettle. For the next few moments, we say nothing to each other, enjoying the peaceful quiet as we work.

"Kaguya, I'm fairly certain you have a few questions for me about my theories regarding today's events. Am I right?"

"You are." I pick up the pack of teabags and pull out a bag. "I was just about to ask you about that, really."

"Well, thank you for not bringing it up back at the Mount. That may have caused a bit of an issue back there." He says as he adds a couple spoons honey into his glass of milk. "Honey?"

"Hm." I keep the jar beside my mug, still waiting for the water to boil. "So what's the big secret?"

"I may be wrong but I get the feeling that Dr Roquette may have been an accomplice in today's case. Not only that but my suspicions regarding Red Arrow's ease at locating her runs deeper than I portrayed."

My eyes narrow upon hearing his words and it doesn't take a second for me to catch his meaning. "You think Red Arrow's a spy."

He nods as he takes a slice of cake out of the refrigerator. "I know it seems absurd but-"

"It doesn't." I cut in as the kettle begins to whistle. "When I ran through a list of possible reasons for your hiding something, the possibility that Red Arrow could be a spy ranked high up on the list."

"How'd you come to that?" He asks, sounding quite impressed. The look on his face causes my heart to skip a beat but I suppress it in time to reply him. "The points you brought up about how easily he located the doctor as well as how you seemed to remove him from the suspect list while planting an almost imperceptible seed of doubt."

"And what was that?"

"You suggested that he might have been manipulated by the Shadows." I shrug as I stir a spoon of honey into my berry tea. "That implies that he may have connections to them that are capable of manipulating him into taking actions that are beneficial for them."

His face breaks into a wide smile that curls around the edges of the glass he's drinking from and, impossible as it may seem, brightens the kitchen even more that the glare of the lightbulb. "You never cease to amaze me, Kaguya."

Can the steam from a mug of tea be used as an excuse for a blush? I wonder as I take a slow sip to busy my hands. Again I wonder if he knows what he's doing to me. "It wasn't that hard to put together." I say as I try to dismiss his words, and their effect, with a shrug. "But now that I've confirmed it, I can understand why you chose not to tell the others earlier."

"Exactly." He says as he moves over to the sink to wash the utensils he used. "As for Roquette, well her behaviour during the mission gave her away."

"How so? She seemed worried that her work was in the wrong hands."

"No." He shakes his head as he towels the glass dry. "If you really observed her, she seemed more worried about her 'brilliant science' not being in her hands than it being in the _wrong_ hands. Also, while the subject of her research was another reason to be suspicious, the clincher was how she reacted to the fact that an organization of some of the most skilled assassins in the world was after her."

Looking back on it, particularly through his eyes, I can definitely see how he'd come to his conclusion. However, I know that I'm supposed to play devil's advocate to ensure that we're not seeing the world through blinders so I voice the first argument that comes to mind; "She's a brilliant woman, Naruto. She'd likely come to the conclusion and accepted the fact that her death was imminent. As to her concerns about those in possession of her work, well, should she have accepted her death then it stands to reason that she felt annoyed that she likely wouldn't have anything to be remembered by."

"Good counter." He nods approvingly though a small frown creases his brow. "In fact, I nearly dropped this theory for that reason. However I just can't get over how calm she seemed about the sheer destructive capability her project had. If the Shadows felt so inclined, they could have had the launch codes to this country's entire nuclear armament. Or any one of a dozen other nefarious acts. Yet she simply didn't care. No I believe she, at least, has ties to the Shadows."

It's good to know that he's not just rushing into an opinion without considering the possible flaws in said opinion but, even with my own counterargument, I can't help but feel that he may be correct. "It might be worth looking into. How soon can you have eyes on her?"

"I should have a few clones tailing her by this time tomorrow and I'll see if Shikamaru can glean anything from her cyber-presence. Want me to wash that for you?" I nod and pass him my mug. "I'll let Canary know if they find something."

"Might bring up a few issues on trust and privacy." I warn him but he just shrugs.

"I'll be honest; I couldn't tell her cause it could've been nothing but I had to go with it cause it could have been something. Frankly, I think she'd be easier to convince than, say Batman or Superman."

"Likely so." I agree before noticing the uneaten cake. "You forgot your snack."

"Nah, that's my bedside snack for tonight." He says as he lifts the cling-film wrapped treat and leads the way. "I wanna get Ero-sennin's prepped in time for our editor to check it out. Toad Sage Press is going to need a solid entry to make a name for itself so I'm going all out on this one."

Just then, his words remind me of an issue I wish to have resolved. "Speaking of going all out, I noticed that you seemed to hold back a lot more than usual during the fight against Terra and Kennedy. You stuck primarily to dodging and only really struck out at the Shadows when the fight first started. Why?"

"Ah, that." He sounds amused about the question, like the whole thing was a small but well executed prank. "Well, in all honesty, I did it to fuck with them." He shrugs casually. "They've already got the Amazo data so they have a clue what my skillset should be and the possible extremes of my abilities. After all, no one could _possibly_ go up against that thing without taking it seriously. So, to them, I'm just a really fast metahuman, not speedster fast mind you, but a faster than average guy who's skilled at martial arts and in possession of a weapon that can alter its shape. You still with me?"

I nod.

"Well, since Kennedy and Terra know that, they attacked with that in mind. Now I could have turned their data upsidedown but I chose not to. This way, I get to keep a few aces up my sleeve."

Comprehension dawns on me as he speaks so that by the time he's done, I understand what he aims to do. "And when you use any of these 'aces' they're forced to reevaluate their data and head back to the drawing board on how to deal with you."

At this point, we're at the bedrooms, he by his door and me by mine so I'm able to see the slight smile on his face.

"Remember earlier?" He asks as he leans on the doorframe. "When I said that you didn't need to go out of your way to impress me?"

How could I possibly forget that? He'd had me blushing in the middle of a fight with those words!

"Well, you've done so twice now and I know you're not even trying. Don't ever change, Kaguya."

It's taking my brain a lot longer than usual to cone up with a response so I just blurt out the first set of coherent words that come to my mouth; "Same goes for you Naruto."

His smile grows just a little brighter and my heart seems to beat just a little faster. "I won't. Good night princess."

"Night, Naruto."

With that, he walks into his room and closes the door leaving me standing in the doorway and wondering how to deal with what I'm feeling.

Because I have a feeling that this is a bit more than simple hero worship...

—~ ~—

Done.

And just in time for Christmas too

Who knew work could be so... Tiring? And draining?

Review Responses:

MadaraF'inUchiha- I don't even know where the petrification bit came from but I'm very glad you liked it.

Oliver- Thank you for that. I'll avoid making those mistakes from now on.

GuestDany- Thanks! I know the Kaguya x Naruto is slow I'm just trying to make it a bit realistic.

SymbolicJoker- Thank you too! I'm glad to have changed your opinion on the fic.

8th Pirate King- My opinion is that if Naruto can help someone, he often will. Plus, I also think Gaarq wouldn't mind having his tale be the guiding force for another young man to see the Light.

Mykusxz and SlyUzumakiVii- thanks for the positive comments guys! (Or ladies if it so applies)

Welp, the next update will be in the new year so ladies and gentlemen enjoy the holidays and have a great time!

The Ethereal Lord


	11. Chapter 11

This chapter was beta'ed by V01dSw0rd.

Thanks a bunch man!

 _ **A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 11**_

 _I sit at the dining table in the_ _safe house_ _the team and I are resting at for the next few days to regain our strength and pull out a blank scroll and inkpot from my practice pouch. We may be relaxing our bodies for a while but it's no reason for me to slack off on my skills that aren't so reliant on my body. That, and neither Levy nor, annoyingly enough, Rin would let me catch a break if they were to so much as suspect that I might be slacking off._

 _Soon enough, I'm deeply engrossed in my task of improving my script writing speed, so much so that only my heightened perception allows me to note when Rangiku and Hisagi walk in. At the back of my mind, I'm aware of the kettle I'd put to boil._

 _Sometime later, the wait is over so I pause my work to go and prepare the Divine Meal._

 _I'm just snapping the chopsticks when I hear a familiar voice greeting everyone._

 _"Good morning, Uzumaki-kun! I see that you're practicing your fūinjutsu."_

 _It's Rin, our resident nin-taijutsu lady. Quite the personality, depending on her mood as at when you were to encounter her._

 _With my mouth full, I can't truly answer her so I puff out a muffled response._

 _I should have kept my mouth shut._

 _"Ne, Uzumaki-kun, are you eating ramen again?"_

 _Something about her tone sends shivers down my spine. It's like listening to a soft wind blowing on the coast but knowing that it carries the promise of a raging hurricane._

 _I choose to keep my mouth shut._

 _Should have done that a couple seconds ago._

 _With a calm but determined gait, she stalks over to stand in front of me with a wide smile. "Now that's no good, particularly for your morning meal."_

 _She's positioned in such a way that she's directly between Rangiku, Hisagi and I so I can easily see the wide grin Ran's sporting around her sake saucer, her eyes glimmering with barely restrained laughter. Hisagi's humor is more restrained but there's still a tiny smirk at the corner of his mouth._

 _Traitors. I can expect no aid from them._

 _"What do you say to some nice, warm French toast hm?"_

 _I, Uzumaki Naruto, S-ranked shinobi, jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko, feel like a rabbit being stalked by a predator. "But... Ramen's awesome!"_

 _"I know it is, Uzumaki-kun, but can't you cook something else for a change?"_

 _My mouth, treacherous bastard, chose to release its filthy contents. "But I can't cook!"_

 _Rin's visage took on a shocked look that I just knew was a fake. "But that's just sad! Tell you what, from today, you'll learn to cook and cook well. As a reward, you'll have a bowl of ramen once a fortnight."_

 _"What the fuck-?!"_

 _Her grin turns decidedly evil upon hearing my expletive. "You're right. Monthly assessments are better."_

 _My jaw drops open in shock. Just as I'm about to rally a comeback, she smiles beatifically at me. "Should we make it once in two months?"_

 _My jaw snaps shut. In the background, I see Rangiku slapping her knee as her shoulders shake vigorously._

 _"Let's begin now, Uzumaki-kun! After all, there's no time like the present! We'll begin with a simple meal. Put some water on to boil for the tea and get the loaves of bread. I'll grab the other things we'll need. We'll start with French toast..."_

—~ ~—

A smile crosses my lips as I sprinkle a pinch of salt onto the egg I'm frying before flipping it over to complete the turnover. Those were the days, the guys and I tearing across the Elemental Nations, ripping Zetsu armies apart and forcing Madara and Obito to practically tear their hair out by the roots.

The smile turns melancholic as I turn the egg onto a plate and I transfer the plate onto a prepared tray. Of us, only Kirabi, Rin, myself and a crippled Levy survived; Gowther died when Obito used the Human path to sever the link between his body and his soul when he was possessing a different body; Rangiku was destroyed by Utakata and Yugito while they were Obito's paths... The pain of their deaths remain as poignant now as when it was fresh and I just pause to get a grip on my emotions.

"Are you alright?" Kaguya's gentle voice drifts over to me from the doorway. I must have walked further down memory lane than usual for me not to have sensed her approach.

"Done with your shower already?" I ask, putting on a teasing smile as I carry the tray. "I could have sworn that I still had a bit more time to set up breakfast."

Before I can take more than two steps forward, she's in front of me and she collects the tray and sets it back on the counter. "Considering the fact that I'd been standing there for just over two minutes then I'd say that your walk down memory lane was a bit more intense than usual. Do you want to talk about it?"

I wave dismissively as I reach across and pull my own plate out of the warmer, giving myself an excuse not to look into her eyes as I reply. "Wasn't anything."

Somehow my eyes are drawn to her face in time for me to see a flash of pain and guilt cross her features and a dark part of me feels elated at her pain. I can almost hear it as it hisses: 'That's right... Feel the guilt your actions...'

"You often tell me to talk about how I'm feeling." She says as she tries to forge past the guilt.

Unfortunately, perhaps because I'm fighting the whispers in my own head, my response is unusually curt and even I can hear the slight tinge of bitterness in my words.

"And how often do you do that?"

For the next couple of minutes, an uncomfortable silence settles between us, a first-time occurrence, strange as it might seem, since our arrival on this world. Kaguya picks at her food while I, on the other hand, can't seem to get enough to cram my mouth shut.

My plate is empty; she hasn't even eaten a third of her egg.

I sigh internally. Whether or not my words rang true, the damage done had been through the inflection in my tone. I'd sounded bitter and bitterness is an emotion that we cannot allow to take hold. Not when the only thing we have is each other. "Kaguya, I'm sorry." I pause for a few moments to let the apology sink in before I continue. "I was way out of line there-"

"You weren't. You simply said what was on your mind and, as it turns out, you were telling the truth." She cuts in, her voice little more than a whisper. Yet, for all the quietness of her voice I can hear the pain inside and I know that I have truly hurt her and so I try again.

"It doesn't take away the fact that I said it at a bad time-"

Again she stops me before I can finish speaking. "What made it a bad time? It is unfair of me to keep mum about my feelings yet keep expecting you to be completely open about yours. Life's give and take right?"

Nothing more is said for the next couple of moments. I've hurt her; that much is fucking obvious but I have no idea what to say to her.

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 **Themyscira**

"Things really do sink in when one's bone tired."

Diana arched an eyebrow as she pulled herself out of the water to sit on the pool's edge, the surrounding wisps of steam doing nothing to cover her nudity. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that I finally understand what you'd say every time you came back." Donna sighed blissfully as she submerged herself in one of Themyscira's hot springs to her chin."There's just no place like home."

"Glad you finally understand." Diana smiled in return as she kicked water at the younger girl's face. "As for being bone tired, well, let me just say that you wore me out a bit too."

"Just a bit?" Donna asked as she wiped the water off with a laugh. "I could have sworn that I did better than that!"

"And I should tell you that? So you'd get a bigger head?" Diana asked with a grin of her own that spurred them on to even more laughter. Finally, after the laughter had died down, she sat forward, resting her elbows on her thighs and stared intently at the younger woman. "Honestly, though, you have improved. And by a noticeable margin too."

"Thanks." Donna smiled as she sat up, just enough for the water to drop a few inches below her shoulder level. "It's mostly thanks to Naruto though. His training may be brutal but even I know that its been a boon."

"He's that good huh?" In truth, while Donna's words impressed her, they only served to validate all of Canary's claims about the blond offworlder. Now provided with an opportunity to learn a bit more about him, the Amazonian princess pounced on it. "What's he like?"

The younger Amazon, however, chose to take the opportunity to rib her mentor and her voice took on a lilting, teasing tone. "Do I smell interest? Might the Princess of the Amazons be interested in the enigmatic offworlder?"

"Not a cradle robber thank you very much." Diana shot back with a smirk. "Why? Afraid I'll steal your crush? Don't worry, I won't be getting between a teacher-student relationship."

"He's got a girl." Donna shrugged dismissively before pausing. Then; "At least I think he's got. Not my business really." She mumbled, internally thanking Hera that the heat of the springs had already caused her skin to seem flushed. She did _not_ want her mentor knowing of _**that**_ moment of Wally-induced stupidity.

Having determined that the moment of internal embarrassment had passed, she continued; "He's a brutal teacher who has seriously high expectations of his students but he's also a kind one who helps you get to those expectations." She smiled softly, thinking of the times the blond had sparred with her, kicked her ass and then pointed out her flaws and worked with her until the flaws were ironed out. "He helped me tighten up my close quarter fighting technique while increasing my combat awareness. We're working on how to up my speed while making plans to better incorporate my flight into my fighting style.

"He seems very laid back but he's got a head for strategies and is incredibly sharp and capable of reading situations and events. Add the two and you have Naruto; a guy who is extremely observant, really good at reading people and situations and choosing the best path to resolving issues, be it a girl hurt by someone's rage filled words or a mission to get his charge out of a troublesome situation."

"Well, if I wasn't interested before you have definitely peaked my interest." Diana said. "What about when he's not 'on the job' so to speak?"

"He's actually a lot of fun when we're just hanging out. He enjoys a good prank whether he's the perpetrator or the victim. Though he's had to be a bit more serious since Artemis joined us."

"Green Arrow's niece?" Diana asked to which Donna hummed in confirmation. "Why? Is her presence causing any rifts in the team?"

"Just one." Donna snorted in amusement. "Naruto is a firm believer in teamwork and, when not helping us up our individual skills, has been training us on how to work together as a team. For some reason, though, Artemis's mere presence seems to grate on Wally's nerves. It probably doesn't help that he has never managed to one-up her in any of their verbal spars and Naruto keeps teaming them up so they haven't had a reason to attack each other yet. It's usually fun to watch their interactions but it's clearly driving both Naruto and Kaldur up the wall…"

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 **Mount Justice**

 _"We need to make a move, team! He's not going to let up his attack!"_ Kaldur shouted mentally from behind the wall himself and M'gann shared, trying to corral the team into action.

 _"We were already moving remember?"_ Artemis snapped angrily as she rolled behind a rock seconds before an orb of water smashed into the ground she had just rolled past. _"Simple mission parameters: sneak into the castle without being seen and without relying on M'gann's powers. Halfway through and the goddamned Wallman chooses to blow our cover."_ She knelt and lifted her hand to her quiver as she peeked past the rock at the castle only to yank her head back as a trio of water orbs smashed into the rock in response. _"Great going Wall-O!"_

 _"I said I was sorry!"_ The speedster snapped back, his scowl almost audible as he raced from point to point, never given a moment of rest by the blunted earth spikes that had harried him since the moment he had foolishly broken cover. _"Besides, I told Miss 'I make no mistakes' to cover me! If she'd done her job like Speedy would've, we wouldn't be in this mess."_

 _"While I'd normally stay away from your arguments, this one's on you Wally."_ Raven stated, her voice sounding incensed as she held up a shield over herself and Dick, both heavily sweating due to the heat of the seemingly unending stream of flames she held back. _"You knew the plan yet dumped it for whatever harebrained reason you felt justified your actions."_

 _"It doesn't matter who's fault it is!"_ Connor growled angrily as he struggled to escape the cyclonic winds that currently had him pinned. _"We've been bogged down in this no-man's land for too long. The timer will soon go off and I sure as hell do NOT intend to lose! I can't take anymore of those 'hell drills' of his!"_

 _"Connor is right. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, we'll all suffer for it."_ Kaldur agreed, sounding more assertive than they had ever heard from him. _"Now, I have a plan but it hinges on precise timing and cooperation so whatever grudges you have between yourselves, Artemis, Wally, I would suggest that you keep them aside for the time being or I will prove to you that being trained as an Atlantean is a form of hell you cannot comprehend."_

Whether it was his tone or the threat, Kaldur couldn't be sure, but no one even attempted to say a single word as he explained his plan.

Their training exercise for the day was a relatively simple one; Naruto had taken Kaguya 'hostage' and stashed her in the castle, giving them half an hour to sneak into his 'fortress'. It wasn't a stealth exercise per se, though they could tell that stealth was a part of the requirements.

Between planning, execution and Wally's error, they had used up about fifteen minutes. Naruto had bogged them down with a slew of attacks and traps for another ten.

They had just five minutes left.

 _"Now!"_ Kaldur shouted as he ran toward Wally's position. At the same time, M'gann wrenched control of three watery projectiles and sent them toward the source of the flamethrower Raven was faced with. The fūinjutsu seal tag embedded in the wall was doused with the water, giving the magic user's group the chance to dive out of the way. At the same time, an explosive arrow caved the wall in to ensure an end to the fire trap. Meanwhile, Raven was able to force open a path for Connor to escape the wind trap. Now free of their former impediments, the team's heavy hitters smashed their way into the field of spikes, Connor pulverizing any spikes that got close while Kaldur, having cleared up a bit of space around Wally, hurled the speedster out of there.

With determination born of a desire to atone for his mistake, Kid Flash _ran._ He pushed himself as hard as he could, zipping past the watery projectiles that were shot at him and tearing into the fortress. True to his word, the interior of the fortress was devoid of any traps granting Wally the chance to scour the building.

Nothing.

Beyond tacky and clichéd 'castle decor' the fortress was empty.

After a final check that still bore no fruit, Wally raced outside to tell the others of the problem. Just as he crossed the foyer, he was presented with a conundrum.

He could see Naruto walking out of a building about three hundred meters away. At the same time, Artemis had just, in the process of dodging one water orb, had jumped into the path of another.

He could complete the mission at the cost of the blonde archer getting wet or he could 'save' his teammate and cost them the mission.

'It's only water.' He reasoned as he raced toward the offworlder duo. 'Naruto would never try to seriously harm us. Besides, if I saved her she'd just blame me for costing us the mission.'

The instant he touched Kaguya, the simulation blanked out, leaving them in the training room.

Naruto was emphatically NOT smiling. "Congratulations team. You failed the mission."

It took a few moments for the blond's words to sink in but the moment it did, there was a cacophony of noise that did nothing to appease the shinobi.

"Quiet!" He snarled with such anger that they were silenced almost instantly. "Do you even know _why_ you failed?"

"Does the answer start with a 'W'?" An irate Artemis snapped back. She was tired and sore and thanks to the antics of an idiot, she had failed a mission. She, truth be told, simply couldn't take this. "Because we had a decent plan that would have worked if SOMEBODY hadn't fucked things up!"

Her comments, of course, abraded Wally's already bruised ego and the brunette was all too ready to yell back. "I said I was sorry! Christ, would you get off your damned horse? Everyone makes mistakes!"

"Enough!" Kaldur cut in, leveling a harsh glare at the two. "We failed. It matters not who caused it or how. The point is that the team failed. All we can do now is understand why we failed and know how we can rectify this in future."

"Kaldur's right." Raven sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. "So let's just hear Naruto out."

The shinobi's response was to nod slightly at the magic-user before fixing them with an appraising look. "Today's simulation parameters were simple: get in, get the hostage and get out within a specified timeframe. Your decision, Kaldur, to take time out to plot your infiltration was an excellent one; rushing headfirst into enemy territory is a potential danger waiting to happen. As a team, your stealth methods weren't superb but that was why I chose this kind of task for you: now that I know where to start, I can begin to hone your stealth methods. Finally, your rally in the final moments of the simulation shows your capability to adapt to situations." He paused to take in air as his appraising look became a disappointed stare that was focused on both Artemis and Wally. "But you failed. And for two main reasons.

"One," his gaze, without any physical movement, pinned Dick and Kaldur as surely as it had the team's troublemaker duo, "I expected you guys-" his those pinned by the stare knew he was talking to them- "to know better than to pour all your resources into a single focused rescue attempt. Particularly not one where the terms of release are set by the enemy."

By the time he was halfway through, Kaldur and Dick had already guessed what their flaw wasas evidenced by the grimaces on their faces, one that was soon shared by the other two.

Connor, though, felt lost and voiced his confusion.

It was Kaguya that answered him: "You were all thinking too lineally, so to speak.

"In a hostage situation, you may not have a clue why a hostage is being held. As such, you need to move fast and stealthily to ensure that the hostage suffers as minimally as possible. To do that, you have to put yourself in the enemy's shoes; try to figure out why the hostage was taken, how much time you have, how much security you will have to deal with. With that in mind you'll realize that a single attack will rarely get you to your target because even if you _do_ have superior numbers or offensive capabilities, a prepared enemy likely knows those capabilities and is prepared to counter them."

"Dick, as a team with Batman, you've gone up against the Joker." Naruto continued. "How did Batman have you deal with hostage situations?"

"We'd usually split up." The youngest in the room admitted. "I'd head for the hostages while he took down any security, acting as a distraction."

"Exactly. A singular attack in rescue missions typically doesn't work for the same reason you guys failed today: your enemy could simply bog you down in so many attacks that by the time you get past the attacks-"

"The hostages have been moved. Or worse." Kaldur nodded. "We will not forget this."

"Ensure that you don't." Naruto emphasized. "Functioning as a black ops unit means you'll need to move fast and smart. Never forget that. Now, the rest of you are free to do as you wish, I need to talk to Artemis and Wally."

With nods of assent, the rest of the team broke apart, leaving Naruto, Kaguya, Artemis and Wally.

"Don't be too harsh on them hmm?" Kaguya smiled at her 'bodyguard' though the two could see that the smile didn't reach her eyes. It wasn't the first sign they'd noticed since they had arrived earlier in the evening that hinted at a possible tension between the two.

"I'll try." Naruto grunted noncommittally. "No promises."

With the short exchange done, the white haired princess walked off to join the rest of the team and Naruto turned to the two left.

"I think by now you two realize that you are the second reason the team failed this mission?"

"Oh hell no!" Artemis swiftly rejoined. " _I_ followed the plan. It may have been flawed but I _followed._ The _Wallman_ on the other hand, felt too big to do something so trivial!"

"I said I was sorry!" The speedster exploded. "I made a mistake! I messed up-"

"Big time!" She cut in with a sneer that stoked the brunette's rage even higher.

"How am I supposed to work with someone who antagonizes me at every turn?!"

"You should have thought of that before antagonizing her for something completely out of her control." Naruto answered dispassionately.

Wally turned to stare at the blond bewilderedly. "I antagonized her? Me?"

"You've harbored a grudge against her from the moment she stated that she was to be the newest addition to the team instead of Speedy whom you would have preferred."

The cold manner in which the blond delivered his point served to blindside the Speedster thoroughly. "I- I... I mean yeah, I would have preferred Speedy but I didn't antagonize her for it! She was the one who acted all smartass and know-it-all like."

"If you'd spent even a day observing her without your rose tinted glasses you'd see that smartass is her default setting." The shinobi shrugged, choosing not to add 'in new and uncomfortable situations' out of his assessment. "And she never tried to act like a know-it-all, she just knew more than you expected and you felt annoyed by that too."

While the young speedster struggled to come to terms with his words, the shinobi turned to stare just as coolly at a smirking Artemis. "You're not much better, you know."

The blonde archer just arched an eyebrow.

"Wally may antagonize you because you aren't his premier choice of a new teammate but you chose not to present yourself in the best possible manner."

Artemis scoffed. "Sure. Let him act like an asshole and I should play the saint. Well too bad, I suck at acting."

"I never said you shouldn't stand your ground against him." Naruto replied. "But actively throwing sarcastic jibes at him didn't help now did it?"

It didn't and she knew it as well as he did but Artemis Crock had stubbornness engraved on her genetic template. "So I should stand my ground while not defending myself? Hah, dream on _Minato_." She all but spat the name he'd first given her when they had first met. "And why do you even care? Since my inclusion into this team you've let it be known that Kaguya is your first priority so why do you care whether or not we work as a team? Cause I'm pretty sure that if your princess were to be in danger, you'd just hit the gas and get her out of there."

"A fact I've never once denied." The shinobi agreed with a shrug. "As to why I bother with you, well, suffice it to say that I've lost enough friends and teammates. However I can, I will do my best to ensure that those I consider to be either are well protected."

With that said, he stuffed both hands into the pockets of the green cargo shorts he had on and turned to walk out of the room. "I'd thought I would be tearing into both of you for your baseless mutual dislike of each other but now... Now I'll just ask a simple question."

He paused and turned to them, his eyes seemingly glowing with the conviction of what he was about to say to them. "Are you willing to lose your teammates because you wouldn't work together?"

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

Watching as he walked out of the training room, Dick had to admit that, for the first time to his knowledge, Naruto's mind seemed to be somewhere else.

Over the course of their interaction since the Sumdac incident, the Dark Knight's protégé had come to realize that, regardless of how nonchalant or laid back the blond might seem to be, Naruto possessed a degree of awareness about his surroundings that probably only the likes of Batman and Deathstroke could match. Even the few times it seemed Wally had successfully pranked him a glance at his eyes revealed the truth; he was fully aware but chose to simply take the prank for fun's sake.

This was quite different. He hadn't bothered to take his usual scan of the location with a glance as he usually did and he hadn't registered Dick's presence at all. 'And it isn't because Kaguya isn't around.' Dick thought as he watched the blond approach. 'I've seen him exhibit the same awareness even without her being close by. Something's definitely happened between him and Kaguya.'

That was the only logical explanation for this absentmindedness; though the bodyguard and the princess had walked in looking as they usually did, some members of the team, himself included, had felt a slight tension between the two. 'Let's just hope they get it over with soon enough.' Dick sighed as he pushed off the wall to get close to the approaching blond. "Yo Fishcake!"

"It's Maelstrom." The bodyguard shot back, though the retort lacked any heat. "Ugh I can't believe I answered you."

A smug smirk shone on Dick's face as he fell into step beside Naruto. "Told you I'd catch you again. I just needed a little moment of weakness."

"You just jumped to number three on the list."

"Worth it." The smirk grew. Knowing the blond as he now did, the young teen knew that ranking so high on the Prank List meant he'd be on the receiving end of a humiliating prank but... "Totally worth it."

"So, is there a reason why you ambushed me?"

"Just wondering how long before I'd have to call Kaldur to help me drag those two up to the med-bay. My money was on thirty minutes."

An eyebrow quirked upward, clearly amused. "Any takers?"

"Raven said they wouldn't last beyond ten minutes, Connor went for twelve if Wally ever got round to listening to Artemis and M'gann came straight outta left field. Said you'd talk to them, get them to understand something and then leave."

The blond was silent for a second or two before bursting out in a loud peal of laughter. "Raven? _M'gann? Betting?_ "

Dick couldn't help a few snickers slipping out as well, Naruto's laugh was so infectious. "Yeah. You must be a bad influence."

"Right." The blond drawled as his laughter tapered off. "Well, I guess you know who won this time."

"Yeah." A comfortable silence descended, one that Naruto was all too willing to simply enjoy until Dick spoke up. "So, what did you tell them?"

"Did you also bet on what I'd tell them?" The shinobi asked. "Or is this just your dreadfully unsubtle way of fishing?"

"Could be the second." The Boy Wonder shrugged noncommittally. He knew by now that the blond would simply redirect and deflect every question he had cheerfully if he didn't come clean when confronted. "Gonna share?"

The blond sighed as they walked into the rec room and made a beeline for a sofa. "Well-" he grunted as he flopped onto the furniture- "well, basically I pointed out how stupid they were both being and forced them to understand the possible consequences of their actions by asking a simple question."

Dick, thanks to his 'vast experience' in probing the blond, knew that the bodyguard was about to share a bit more than he'd expected so he settled into a couch, fully attentive.

"They've both got their flaws, those two. Wally's rash-"

"Not reckless?" The Bird quirked an eyebrow.

"Nah. Connor's reckless, with the whole 'I'm damned near invincible so I wade into the firefight' attitude. Wally, though, knows most of his limits, he just goes along with the best idea to click in his head cause he thinks he's fast enough to sidestep any surprises. To me, that's being rash.

"Artemis, on the other hand, can be pretty calculative but her flaws are rooted in two places. One; she's got pride and two; she's got a temper.

"Couple those two together and pit them against Wally's motor mouth and..."

Dick got the message.

"Beyond that, though, they built horrible first impressions of each other." Naruto continued. "Wally wanted Speedy over Artemis and she took him to be a proud idiot that hates her existence. That, more than even their considerably volatile flaws, set them on a collision course that they toed like mules with blinders on while swearing that they'd never interact beyond sarcastic jibes and insults."

"Sounds like you've been there before."

A wry smile stretched the blond's features. "I was the proud idiot. The other guy was the equally proud guy with one hell of an attitude. We collided a few times but were somehow able to work as a team in the thick of things.

"Thing is, if issues like that aren't dealt with in a controlled environment, then, regardless of how lucky you are, that luck will run out." The blond sighed. "And in a group as large as this, well, luck tends to run out faster if it's forced to spread itself."

It was only his training to control his impulses that held the Bird from blurting out the question on his mind: how large was your group when your luck ran out?

-Hey guys, your Attention's needed up top. Batman's here.- Cyborg called out over the Mountain's PA system. -Get outta that couch, Blondie.-

"Oh go hack a database!" The blond scowled as he turned over and pulled an imaginary blanket over his head.

-That was weak man. Even for you.- The mecha-human's laugh rang out.

"Ugh fine!"

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

"So the mission today's to find some old geezer who can access a really powerful artifact. Or, should said old geezer be a no-show, find the really powerful artifact. That sum it up nicely?"

"With a bow on top." Connor scoffed at Naruto's words as he reviewed the mission briefing displayed on the screen. "Not sure I wanna spend time looking for an old man that likely just chose to take a few days off for himself."

"Perhaps that was his intention." Batman stated as he locked eyes with the Kryptonian clone. "Be that as it may, though, this will be an excellent opportunity to expose some of you to magic." He paused to glare a snickering Wally into silence. "As such, Connor, M'gann, Wally, Artemis, Dick and Kaldur will be the ones executing this mission. You leave in two minutes. You may be able to catch a trail if you head out as soon as possible and push the ship to go as fast as it can."

"You know, I can tell that you tossed in that final sentence to stall any questions." Naruto said as the rest of the team headed off to prepare for their mission. "Sounds like you don't want them to know what we'll be doing."

"There's nothing secretive about the mission I have for the three of you." The Dark Knight replied as he brought up a new file on the computer. The image on the file was a portrait of a redheaded woman with forest green eyes. "This is Poison Ivy, an eco terrorist I've encountered a number of times. Two years ago, she decided to seclude herself away from the world. When I asked why she claimed that she had come to the realization that humanity would be its own end so she had no reason to hurry. Instead, she created a veritable garden of Eden from a barren island and chose to live there."

"She seems decent." Kaguya studied the file on the woman. "What do you need us for?"

"A year ago she came back to Gotham with a vengeance. It took me close to six hours to subdue her and during that time, she never said a word. It was a month later, while she was in Arkham, that I pieced together her reason: a weapons development company targeted her Eden, wrongfully deeming it devoid of human life, and used it as a test site." Batman paused as Naruto rubbed his temples and swore. "The assault on her Eden must have made her decide to seek retribution."

"Oh for the love of-! How stupid can one group of people be?" Raven groaned quietly. "Who the hell chooses to destroy an island teeming with plant life? What, were there no more crags and barren rock outcroppings in the ocean?"

"I'll hazard a guess and say that she'd discovered who the bosses are and was out for blood." Kaguya stated factually. "Then you came along and carted her off."

The Dark Knight nodded. "Three out of the five will be at the 'Gotham by Gaslight' event that's starting by seven thirty this evening Your mission is to keep an eye on them and protect them should the need arise."

"The breakout at Arkham." Naruto stated as he recalled Chloe's heads up two nights ago. "You're certain you won't need help taking down the others?"

The Dark Knight entered a series of commands, bringing up a list of the inmates released during the mass breakout with some names highlighted in red. "I've caught the highlighted ones and I intend to get the others-"

"Why aren't they dead?"

It was completely unexpected; one moment Naruto had been reading through the list and in the next it felt like he was the distilled form of all the hate in the world. Only Kaguya had experienced this; back at the Sumdac facility's experimentation zone, and even then it hadn't been so overpowering.

"You'll have to explain yourself." The Dark Knight replied coolly. "Why isn't who dead?"

"Zsasz. Lazlo Valentin. The Joker." the blond said, his voice never wavering from the almost casual tone it maintained. "Before we moved to the Harbour, I'd jog a couple of miles around the warehouse in the morning and I remember overhearing, on separate occasions, the kind of sadistic pleasure those three obtained from hurting people. So I have to ask, why aren't they dead?"

If the tension in the room was simply noticeable before, it became almost tangible when Batman answered the shinobi. "I'm uncertain how things are run on your world but we don't just kill people-"

"In spite of the obvious crimes they've committed?" Naruto cut in, his tone hardening as his rage spiked. "Even if the people in question take pleasure in destroying people's lives?"

"Even criminals deserve a chance at redemption." Batman shot back. "It is wrong to simply kill them off without giving them a chance at redeeming themselves."

"And if after more than five chances?" Naruto rejoined harshly. "Zsasz still killed people the last time he was out. If I recall correctly, Hus words when he was taken in were 'Still gonna get out, still gonna rack up a tally'. Does that sound like someone on the path to redemption? Or Valentin, who scars his victims and destroys their very being! Does that sound like a man who seeks redemption?!"

By the end of his counter the blond's voice had climbed up to an almost deafening pitch and so, by the time he stopped, the silence provided a dark contrast.

"On my world there ARE prisons. We DO take prisoners, not simply butchering those who go against the law." Naruto replied, his voice almost a whisper. "But there are those who **have** to die. A man who tortures his victims and takes pleasure in doing so has to die. A man who lives to break people and turn them into farces of humanity need to die. A man who creates chaos and revels in the carnage needs to be removed." He turned and started walking toward the exit. "Or else, like a diseased limb left unchecked, they will destroy all that we hold dear.

"I'll go change into something decent. Tickets?"

"I brought clothes for the three of you and the tickets are digital. I've sent them to your emails and I'll have a limo waiting on you at the Grand Tulip Hotel. Rooms six-forty through six-forty two." The Dark Knight grunted. Then, just before the blond walked out of the room, "If we sink down to their level then we are no different from them. There must have been someone you sought to save from himself."

Something about the man's words seemed to have struck the blond, making him stand stock still. Then, he spoke. "I did. But those men? They've chosen their path. A surgeon cutting off a diseased arm does so for the good of the whole body.

"Don't worry, though. I won't start a campaign or anything and start killing them off. When in Rome, do as the Romans right?"

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

A gentle tap at the door was all the warning Naruto got before she walked in.

"Do you mind helping me with the zipper? We're the only ones left here till Cyborg gets back and I can't find Kaguya."

"Raven?" The blond asked, a bit taken aback by her sudden appearance as well as her... Well, her _appearance._

He'd always known that, like Donna and the other girls on the team, she had the potential to be a stunner but even he had to admit that he was not expecting to be this stunned.

She had styled her hair so that it no longer hung loosely around her face but now framed an expertly (yet tastefully made up) face like a shimmering black curtain. Her dress, a lavender trimmed violet dress that fit her wonderfully without clinging to her body unnecessarily. It sported abstract, almost smoke-like patterns that were designed to draw the eye and finished it off with a pair of comfortably fashionable violet slippers. With the tiny purple gem gleaming in the center of her forehead, she seemed almost... Ethereal...

It didn't exactly align with the Gotham by Gaslight suggested dress code but fit perfectly with her cover; where he was playing bodyguard to Kaguya's expatriate, Raven was to be the guide said 'expatriate' had funded. So what if she seemed small? Blame genetics!

"Wow Raven." He breathed softly after taking in her look. "You look amazing. Wally will be crushed that he didn't get to see you like this."

"Thanks." She smiled shyly as she tucked the hair at her right temple behind her ear. "I might actually get a picture taken... I don't get to dress up too often. And you look great too."

The blond arched an eyebrow and tossed a glance at the mirror to his side. Apart from the three piece suit he now sported he could only see himself as he always did: plain old Uzumaki Naruto. Sure, the whiskers were concealed by a bit of makeup (thanks to Ino and Anko teaching his female form the art of seduction from a feminine point of view) rather than a spot of localized transformation and his hair was now a slicked back mass of red hair but it made no difference to him.

"Clearly you aren't seeing what I am." She flashed him a grin. "Pretty sure Artemis would give her bow to see you all dressed up."

The blond just snorted as he moved over to help with the zipper. "I think you're dreaming. Miss Blondie still hates my guts for not telling her my actual name back then."

"Gee, I did not think that a bodyguard, trained in everything from Cordon Bleu cooking to emergency first aid and a special brand of martial arts could be so oblivious." She smirked as he pulled up the zipper and turned her around to adjust the dress to fit better on her shoulders.

The Uzumaki wiped away an imaginary tear. "Who'd have thought that my cute baby sister would grow up to look so beautiful? Now where'd I stash my Desert Eagle? I fear I'm going to need something with a bit more stopping power than a run of the mill sidearm to keep those nasty boys away."

"Oh ha ha." She huffed feeling slightly put out yet oddly pleased by his comment.

"So," Naruto asked as he walked back to the seat he was in before she walked in. "Why are you really here?"

The question caught her unawares as she thought she believed that he hadn't figured her out yet.

"Don't be so surprised." He smiled easily, gesturing at the seat beside him. "You normally avoid seeking me out for talks and I know that if you really wanted to, you would have waited for either Kaguya or Cyborg.

"So, why did you come here?"

"I... Uh, I mean..." The young magic user stammered a bit before dropping into the proffered seat and sighing. "I just wanted to know why you had such a negative reaction to those men. I mean, I do understand some of the points you raised but... I, I mean I've never-"

"You've never been so close to someone who hates to such a degree that the air thrums with it." Naruto cut in with a grim smile stretching his features. "You've never been so close to such hate that your own body tries to shut itself down to protect your mind. That it?"

Silence. Then, "Pretty much, yeah."

Silence again, almost deafening in its totality.

"I understand if you don't want to talk-"

"Victor Zsasz. Lazlo Valentin. The Joker. Hidan of Yugakure. Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin. Yakushi Kabuto. The first three names, from this world, mirror an aspect of the second three, from my world.

"Zsasz enjoys killing, Hidan basked in the pain he caused, as much to himself as to others. Valentin and Orochimaru both enjoy breaking people and turning them into mindless slaves, to be used as they see fit."

"And the other guy?" Raven asked quietly. "The one you likened to the Joker."

"Yakushi Kabuto." He spat out the name with such venom that Raven almost wished she hadn't asked. "Like the Joker, Kabuto thrived on chaos."

Even though she could feel the hatred he carried for the Batman's enemies, it was only then that she understood why. "Valentin and the other two... They remind you of the darkness of your home don't they?"

The blond laughed dryly. "That obvious huh?"

"Not really." She admitted. "I only pieced it together a few moments ago.

"So... What now?"

"Hm? I don't quite understand you."

"I mean, what will you do now? About those men?"

The blond sat back and sighed. "I suppose that's a good question. Like said to Batman, I won't go hunting for them and others like them. Whether I like it or not, they aren't within my 'jurisdiction' so to speak.

"At the same time, they've left such a wake of death and pain... I guess the best I can do is to ensure that the day they cross Kaguya is the day they cease to be a threat."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 _ **The Grand Tulip Hotel; Room 641**_

 _ **Kaguya's POV**_

Watching him work is honestly more interesting than I could have expected, particularly considering the fact that he's spent the past ten minutes drawing seals.

From his description, he's creating a dual layered stasis seal in preparation for when we bring in Poison Ivy. Apparently, his lack of knowledge about how the woman utilizes her abilities has made him cautious; the first sealing matrix, drawn on a blank scroll that goes under the hotel bed and extends half a meter out to the left and the right, is structured to keep her body in stasis while the second, positioned to intercept the second at perfect right angles down the center, will keep her mind in stasis.

"And... Done!" He breathes as he slowly stands and leans over backward, enjoying the satisfying pops his joints make as they snap back into place. "Finally."

"Just in time, too." Raven adds as she picks up a purple shawl and wraps it around her shoulders. "The limo will be here any moment."

"In that case we need to go over our plan of action." Naruto says as he seals away his equipment. "I spoke to Cyborg before we left and got him to slip us two vital things. The first's a map of the location we'll be heading to soon and, frankly, I can't see us having an opportunity to switch our gear once we're in."

"Cameras?" I ask, though I'm certain that I already know the answer to that.

"A load of them." He confirms with only the barest of glances at me. "All stuffed in prime spots and ensuring that they won't have a blind spot."

"Gee, paranoid much?" Raven asks with an eye roll and I find myself agreeing with the young mage even though I can understand why the organizers seem so 'paranoid'.

"It's Gotham." Naruto shrugs and he somehow captures the truth of the matter in that simple gesture. "Anyway, even with the presence of those men, we aren't certain that Ivy will show up so I've thought up a plan that shouldn't require us going all out."

"And if we have to?" I ask. In response, he just pulls out a plain silver cube whose surface was broken only by the protrusion of a red button on its upward facing side. "The second thing I got from Cyborg.

"An EMP grenade."

"Lights, cameras, action." Raven grinned.

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 **Batcave; Gotham**

"Perhaps you should head out now, Master Bruce. Tonight promises to be quite interesting and I feel you should return early to rest well. After all, I do believe you haven't canceled your meeting tomorrow with Miss O'Neil." Alfred stated as he walked into the Cave. His charge, in a position that was repeated nigh-nightly, was seated before the Cave's computer, cowl down, analyzing the results of the simulations he'd spent most of the previous night running. "She will be most displeased if you miss yet _another_ appointment. Why, she might just feel incensed enough to give you a bit of bad press on her blog."

It was a testament to how much focus he was putting into whatever he was studying that the unmasked Bat replied with a simple 'I'll deal with April.'

The older gentleman chose to keep his silence a while longer as he continued forward till he stood beside, and just a step behind, his charge. A passing glance was enough to tell him the subject of the night's study.

"Still on Uzumaki? I thought you had Master Grayson on him."

"I do have Dick watching him." Bruce replied. "Together with Canary's report, footage from the cameras in the Mount and the safe house they bunked in before moving out and personal interaction with him, I have a decent chunk of data about him."

To Alfred, though, Bruce sounded tired, tense and just a bit frustrated. "And what does it all point to?"

The Dark Knight sat forward and rested his chin on his palms. "Prior to a discussion we had today? Nothing negative."

"What happened today?"

"Suffice it to say that he is all too willing to kill some of the criminals we have here." Bruce replied. "He displayed a tremendous degree of hate toward Zsasz, Professor Pyg and the Joker in particular."

"What did he say?"

"Basically, he considers them to be the gangrene on the society's limb that needs to be cut off before they infect other, more crucial parts of the society." The Dark Knight scowled as he recalled the, truthfully, very valid points the blond had raised earlier in the day. "However, he agreed to not go out hunting for them"

"Well, he sounds decent." Alfred shrugged. "So, besides that, why the continuous and, dare I say it, obsessive analysis?"

"Because the data points toward the fact that he has next to no personal ambition or goal beyond ensuring the safety of his companion, Kaguya."

That sounded odd. "Isn't that a good thing? The fact that he exhibits such a protective tendency seems like a plus to me."

"Alfred even you have goals and ambitions."

"One could argue that they revolve around you, Master Bruce."

Bruce shook his head as he typed in a command and brought up the textual format of his first conversation with the two offworlders. "You still have _personal_ goals and ambitions. Uzumaki has never hinted toward such."

"What is it that you fear, Master Bruce?"

"He admits that before they fell into our world, Kaguya was controlled in some way, leading to his having to fight her. My fear is that in a world with so many powerful and skilled telepaths she may be manipulated into working against the League."

Even a child could see where the Dark Knight was leaning toward and Alfred was well beyond such an age. "You fear that he will support her in such a scenario. But, according to their words, he stood against her when such a thing happened on their world. He doesn't seem like one to ignore his own moral code to follow someone blindly, not even one he was sworn to protect."

"I know how farfetched that seems but it's a possibility."

"Don't you feel you might be over thinking this?" Alfred asked. "After all, bar his seeming lack of ambitions, even you have admitted that he has been a great deal of help to the team you assembled. Perhaps his seeming lack of ambitions is stemmed in the fact that his only goal from a young age has been to protect his princess?"

Bruce sighed as he sat forward and rubbed his temples. "I've considered all that Alfred. Sometimes it seems like your opinion is the right one particularly because he has repeatedly admitted that his major motivation for training the team has been Kaguya's presence on the team. It seems pretty direct on the surface..."

"I sense a 'but' coming."

"Something doesn't still add up. And for the life of me, I can't figure it out."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 _ **Gotham By Gaslight**_

 _ **Naruto's POV**_

Watching Kaguya and Raven mingle with the people in the hall as I hover a few steps ahead of them, scanning the area for 'threats' when I'm really only trying to find a single target reminds me so much of a mission Tenten, Ino and I had taken a few months before the war began. Then, I was searching for the would be assassin of a noble Ino was posing as while Tenten played the handmaid. Of course, as with damned near every mission I've ever been assigned to, that mission went SNAFU in a flash; the assassin turned out to be the only member of the noble's court that actually wanted to protect said noble and the wife was the ringleader of the coup.

I am really hoping that I finally get a break from that pseudo-curse because I don't want to live this new life with that threat hanging over my head.

Since nothing stands out to me, I turn my attention back on my 'charges'.

Kaguya is, quite obviously, in her element as she smoothly converses with the various people around her, looking absolutely radiant in the lavender gown Batman chose for her. She's pulling people into her wake with skill even Toki couldn't have summoned; a smile here, a laugh there, a gentle touch showing interest in a conversation... She's undoubtedly an expert in this field and she's carrying Raven along each step of the way without making her feel awkward. At the same time, she's fully on guard, her eyes never truly staying still, taking in everything within her line of sight with a methodical, grid by grid scan. Raven's trying to do the same, true, but I can see that she's overwhelmed by the sheer amount of detail she has to deal with.

Gonna have to tell Canary about this so we can figure out how to improve the team in this.

Well, since the ladies can take care of themselves, I might as well find a less rowdy place to stay. It takes a few seconds to decide but then I spot a face that I'm pretty certain shouldn't be here.

Paula Crock.

Michael's neighbor.

Yeah, even now I find it a bit odd how that came about. I mean, considering how big Gotham is, what are the odds of him finding an apartment just two doors away from Artemis's mom?

Maneuvering my way around the throng, I finally make it to the shadowed little alcove and stand just a few feet away, my eyes still sweeping around the room to keep up the charade. "Evening ma'am."

"Evening." She sounds tired and I can hear the tiniest bit of resignation in her tone; like she's being forced to do something she doesn't want to and I take that as an excuse to finally study her.

She's wearing a forest green gown that stretches from just below her shoulders to her ankles. It's quite masterfully designed such that, together with the wheelchair's design, makes it seem like he's simply taking a rest off her feet. Her face, while showing her Asiatic heritage, and, beneath the makeup, I can see hints of Artemis in there. Not enough to scream 'mother-daughter' but certainly enough for one to realize within moment that they are related.

All of this pales in comparison to what I see in her eyes.

That tiredness I heard in her voice? Make that bone-deep weariness. Through her eyes, I see that she's been through the wringer and now she's only fighting for a dream she fears may be out of her reach.

It's like looking into the eyes of some of the older kunoichi back home. In fact, for a few seconds, her features are superimposed upon by Kurenai-sensei's in the first few months after Asuma-sensei's death.

"I've been told that staring at a woman in public is quite rude." She says, snapping me out of my thoughts. Though her words should sound recriminatory, she's able to say it without sounding impolite. In fact, it sounds almost like a joke.

So I smile and apologize. "It's just… your eyes…"

"My eyes." She smiles and, even though it doesn't reach her eyes, it's still a beautiful smile. "Sounds like you have strange affectations."

It is said in a teasing tone that is meant to embarrass the target into backing off, something I've become familiar with and so it has no effect on me. "Perhaps. But in this line of work one learns to quickly study others and I've found that, true to the old saying, the eyes are windows to the soul."

For the first time, a bit of mirth enters her eyes and seems to brighten her features. "Are you a bodyguard or a shrink?"

"Sometimes, I find myself asking the same question." I shrug. "Haven't found an answer yet I'm afraid."

She hums noncommittally and an easy silence falls between us. I use the opportunity to observe Kaguya and Raven who, having made the rounds, have found a table to sit at while she hails a waiter a few feet away.

"I'm surprised that you aren't with your charges." She says as she picks two champagne flutes off the tray and offers me one. "I've found that staying close to the principal often helps, at the very least, it helps more than being a couple of feet away."

I take a sip of the drink before replying; "Perhaps. But my charge didn't even want a guard. Her father insisted and she agreed on the condition that I stay out of sight as much as possible. Besides," I shrug before downing the rest of the drink, "this is a pretty good spot to watch from. And the company's not bad. Even if I'm still trying to figure out why said company's not with her partner."

As much as I'm enjoying this conversation, though, I'm getting a bit antsy. On Kaguya's suggestion, we'd walked in ten minutes late allowing me to seed clones around as an early detection system. Now, almost twenty minutes since then, there's been no word from them. Of course, since this event is slated to last about three hours, perhaps old habits are just reemerging. Still, I slip a hand into my pants pocket to check if it's still there.

It is.

"I told my husband that I didn't want to come today." She says, much more subdued than before. "Perhaps I didn't want to have people see me like this but it was mostly because I did not want to have anything to do with the man he has become. Needless to say, he didn't listen."

I'm not surprised by her words. While Michael is yet to figure out her husband's identity, Paula has never said anything good about the man that left her in the small apartment with her daughter.

"Apparently, the business partners he wishes to meet are so important that he's decided to blow the dust off his old trophy for an exhibition."

"Well, I'd call him an asshole but-" At that moment, the memories of a clone hit. Thanks to years of experiencing such, my mouth pretty much continues the conversation on its own while I focus on the influx of information.

It was one of the two I had utilizing natural energy to boost their sensory perception and it had just found a hit: three hundred meters underground and closing in fast. A quick glance at Kaguya shows that she has seen it and has subtly alerted Raven. Good.

"Miss, I'm going to need you to wheel your way over toward the exit." I say as I pull my hand of my pocket with the deck of cards I had stashed in it back at the hotel. "Something feels off-"

A second influx of memories crashes into me. Shit, she's less than fifty feet away!

I pull Paula's wheelchair down, diving with it as well. Just before I hit the ground, I see that Raven's levitated a few tables to act as a barrier for herself, Kaguya and the few others around them.

As I hit the ground, the floor rumbles and an explosive retort drowns out all other sounds. Dust is sent flying about as debris rains down over us. It goes on like this for a few more moments before a deathly calm settles over the hall.

"Pau- Miss!" I correct myself as I slowly lift my head to glance about. People seem dazed but okay and are only now beginning to notice the large flower bud just in front of the center stage. Panic is about to set in and I need to get Artemis' mom out of here.

Then, three vines lash through the crowd and snap around three men's neck before dragging them forward until they're dangling before the bud, their feet barely resting on the ground.

That's the cue for everyone to begin screaming and panicking. Right as the first scream splits the air, the power to the building shorts out and, almost instantly, a barrage of spells tear through the entrance wall of the hall, adding to the cacophony. In the few seconds it takes for the emergency lights to kick in, I create a clone that carries Artemis' mom out of the building while I pull up the half-mask I'd worn beneath my dress shirt. By the time the emergency power comes on, Kaguya's already by the greatly expanded exit and, together with a clone and Raven from inside the hall, she works to get the rest of the crowd out.

With the evacuation going according to plan, I throw away the packaging of the deck in my hands as I slowly make my way toward the spectacle up at the stage.

The men are still there, their faces slowly turning blue thanks to the vines constricting their throats but I can see that Ivy's not quite ready to kill them yet.

I stop about ten feet to the left of the bud, hiding behind a large chunk of rock that provides a clear shot at all three men and the flower bud.

"Apostles of death's head…" a melodious voice chants solemnly as the flower bud blooms into a huge rose, "fall to the ground in the Sleeping Forest…"

Ho. Lee. Shit.

The woman seating at the center of the rose like some mystical queen of the forest easily cracks the top two percentile of beautiful women I've ever seen. Heck, maybe even the much coveted one percent!

"You three, sitting in your castles of steel girder and glass walls, chose to destroy the home I created for myself." Her eyes aren't open and her tone isn't harsh. In fact, she almost sounds uncaring even as the men are slowly dragged forward until they are forced to kneel at her feet just a scant few centimeters away from the rose throne. "In your quest to increase your wealth, prestige and influence, you had already destroyed great swathes of nature, of forest grander and greater and older than you could even think of."

I prepare the cards in my hands even as I create a clone that swiftly begins to gather natural energy. She's so focused on her captives that she either doesn't sense it or she chooses to ignore it. Either way, I'm prepared.

"And, when that wasn't enough for you, you sent your abominations to my home." The rose angles itself downward as a clump of roots push up out of the ground to form a stairway for her. Every move she makes oozes sheer sexuality as she moves to stand before the captives. "The time has come for you to fall…"

As she speaks, the vines rise higher and higher, tightening until the men are dangling in the air, held up only by the murderous plant matter.

I make my move, flicking out my wrist and sending three cards flying out to embed themselves about halfway into the vines a safe distance from the captive men. A split second later, the cards, altered by a few seals to act like those of a character I saw in a cartoon, blow up, freeing the men and drawing the full weight of her attention onto my shoulders.

"I don't have anything against you, young man." She sighs, sounding disappointed by my interference. "Now please, leave and let me finish with them."

A single tap to my clone's shoulder and it dispels, transferring the gathered energy to me. It is enough to last about fifteen minutes, enough time to wrap things up here.

Her connection to nature is certainly quite powerful judging by her reaction. "Very well then. I wished it didn't have to be this way."

The attacks, when they come, are fast and brutally relentless.

With little more than a thought, she sends vines the size of trees lashing out at me, each whipping out of the ground and doing their damndest to either crush me or smack me into a wall. As I twist around one of them, I glance at the ground where the men where.

Nothing. Raven's played her part in getting them out perfectly.

As I kick off another attack, I sense that she's tunneling beneath the ground, searching for her targets. A perfect opportunity, I battle my way through the dense forestry she's using to protect herself as she searches for her prey, flicking out cards to blow open holes that I thread as I get closer and closer.

Just as I break through the final barrier, a new vine tries to ram me from a blind spot. I twist around and flick two cards at it, blowing through it completely before continuing my spin to face her. Again I send two of the cards out, this time to lay just a few feet away from her. By the time she realizes what's going on, they detonate, sending her flying out of the cocoon of vines.

Not sparing a moment, I land and race toward her, compressing the sage chakra into my index fingertips as I move so that, by the time I get to her, my technique is ready.

Severance of the Sage's Bind; the penultimate technique available to all sages trained by the Elemental Nations' summon clans, the Severance acts as a way for a sage to temporarily block out another's connection to nature. Taught to me by old man Fukasaku on Mount Myobokuzan, it was a trick we'd used on Madara early on in the war. It had worked but then the bastard Uchiha just switched tactics and dominated Kirabi and I until Hashirama's cells reformed the link.

Here, though, Ivy doesn't stand a chance. The sage chakra I pump into her destabilizes her own internal energies and renders her abilities dormant. I can actually feel her powers going into a hibernation state as her link to nature shuts down.

Then, everything goes blank.

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 **Naruto's POV**

Looking at my translucent hand, or should I say looking _through_ , I have to admit that this is quite interesting. A quick glance at my surroundings confirms my initial thoughts on my location; somehow, I've been transported into a memory.

" _Mommy! Mommy! Look what I found"_ I turn to the sound in time to see a young child, possibly eight but definitely no older than ten, race through the doorway to the ratty sofa a few feet away where she kneels and carefully opens her palms to show the woman in the sofa a freshly cut tulip.

Without a shadow of doubt, the woman in the sofa is related to Poison Ivy. In fact, knowing that this is a memory, I'm pretty damned certain that she is Ivy's birth mother, the resemblance is so strong.

However, where Ivy oozes sheer sexuality, this woman seems more like Paula; just damned tired. She's wearing a plain blue t-shirt on a pair of faded jeans and her hands are busy knitting something; judging by the size, I'd say the end product will be for chibi-Ivy.

" _Well, that's a beautiful flower Pamela."_ She smiles as she gently puts her knitting-ware to the side and turns to focus on her daughter. She gingerly takes the flower from the now named Pamela and slowly fits it into the young girl's hair. _"You look just like a forest nymph."_

The young girl slaps her hands over her mouth and giggles happily, bringing a soft smile onto her mother's face.

For those few moments, all seems good and perfect with the world.

Then, like the explosive retort of a gun, the sound of a car door being slammed echoes through the small apartment.

" _Daddy!"_ Pamela yells happily and she bounces around the room like a bunny on a sugar high. She seems so happy that her father is back, a stark contrast from the weary guardedness of her mother.

The door opens to reveal a young man, likely a year older than Pamela's mother, with deep set brown eyes and black hair. His arms are toned, like he spends a lot of time lifting and pushing things but he's also got a bit of a gut similar to old man Tazuna's. _"Pammy!"_ He smiles happily as his daughter slams into his legs like a ballistic missile. As he lifts her up, I smell the alcohol on his breath, confirming that yes, the gut's a beer belly. _"How are you?"_

" _I'm fine daddy!"_ Pamela giggles again as she pushes away from his hug. _"Look daddy! Look what I found!"_

The scene continues with Pamela laughing and enjoying her father's presence while her mother simply turns to continue her knitting.

" _Hey Pammy, why don't you go show Kathy your find?"_ Her father suggests as he walks over to stand by her mother's side. _"But change your clothes first, yeah? Go for your flower dress; it'll go with your find."_

The young girl beams happily at the suggestion and races out of the room, drawing my perception along with her only for her to stop just after rounding the bend that takes her out of her parents' sight.

Sneaky little bugger, my inner prankster thinks even as the rest of my consciousness focuses on the implications of her actions.

A spat is about to go down and, clearly, not for the first time.

" _Angela."_

" _Welcome back James."_

" _You didn't greet me when I came in."_

" _I was… preoccupied."_

" _With what?"_

" _Trying to figure out how to tell you that Mr. Anderson came by today."_

" _And…"_

" _I wasn't sure if you were sober or not."_ The response is so detached and clinically delivered that I feel like she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd come in roaring drunk. _"Though, judging by the time, I felt safe leaving Pamela to welcome you."_

A deep inhale, held in for a few seconds then an exhale. _"What did Anderson want?"_

" _What you owe him."_

I see Pamela's arms tense in readiness for something and, right then, I see a major parallel between the two of us: we both wear masks to hide how perceptive we are of our environment.

Whatever she tensed for doesn't come and so she tentatively relaxes.

" _Tell him that I'll have his money ready by Friday."_

A dry, derisive laugh rings out of the room.

" _How? With your shitty job?"_ The laugh climbs higher in pitch. _"Don't be a fool James, you can't make anywhere near the amount you need in time. And that's not counting your little drinking problem in."_

" _Shut up!"_ The bark of rage shocks Pamela so much that she jerks back, races away to a small room and throws herself into a corner and begins crying such tears of pain that I'm racked by a desperate urge to gather her into my arms and console her.

Then, everything goes blank for a few seconds before a new environment emerges.

This time, the apartment seems different from the last one. It's bigger, for one, and seems more… upscale than the last.

An older Pamela, probably in her early teens, walks in with her backpack slung over a shoulder. _"I'm back!"_

Silence is the only response she gets so she just huffs and marches to a room, definitely hers going by the style of décor, and drops her backpack. She starts walking out of the room before pausing and walking back. A quick rifle through her backpack and she pulls out a notebook before walking out again. _"Mom?"_

Nothing.

" _Mom? I'm back!"_ She walks through the apartment, searching room after room while calling out for her mother. Finally, she heads into the kitchen to drop her book before heading out the backdoor into a garden.

It is a beautiful place, an almost surreal environment of flowers and nature yet, the moment I see it, I can tell that something is wrong: a patch of soil seems more disturbed than the others around it, forming a small mound of earth that seems completely out of place beside the rest of the meticulously kept garden. Pamela notices it almost as soon as I do, making me believe that she's extremely familiar with the garden, possibly even its caretaker.

A growing sense of trepidation fills me as she walks closer and closer to the spot and it takes a few moments before I realize that I'm perceiving her emotions right now.

Right beside the mound, hidden from direct line of sight by it, lies a knife, its blade crimson.

Pamela, in a trancelike state, reaches out to touch it.

The blood on it is still sticky.

Suddenly, a mounting sense of horror, whether mine or Pamela's I can't tell, fills my chest as I watch her scrabble through the earth at the base of the mound.

It's slow work but she moves with manic speed, excavating as fast as she can.

All too soon, a keening wail rips its way out of her throat.

Looking up at her, features uncovered and staring through lifeless eyes, is Angela.

I'm not quite sure how long she sits there, wracked by emotions so chaotic and confusing, but the next thing I -well, she- see is James pounding his fists into the ground, grief stricken, as tears pour down his eyes.

The blank expanse appears again. Then, moments later, a new scene appears.

This time, Pamela, still the same age but looking so weary, is seated in a cubicle. In front of her is a glass partition and on the other end is her father, wearing orange coveralls.

Prison clothes, I realize.

" _So what are they saying now dad?"_

" _They still think I did it, Pammy."_ James sounds broken by the concept that he would have killed her mother. _"We may have gone through a rough patch together but I still love your mom, Pammy. I still love Angie."_

" _I know dad. I know. We just have to hope that your lawyers can prove your innocence."_

A bitter laugh burbles out. _"I don't think so, sweetheart."_

" _Don't say that!"_ She cries out, her voice wracked with anguish at the very thought. Yet, hidden beneath that, I can sense that she, knowing that there might be no hope for her father, has come to accept the same.

Whether or not James picks up on this is debatable but his next words seem to hint toward such. _"Stay strong, Pammy. No matter what happens, you're still my flower and I fully expect you to bloom, okay?"_

She says nothing, the sounds of her tears the only sound until he raps at the divider.

" _Hey, promise me this huh?"_ He smiles at her and shows none of the fear he's undoubtedly feeling inside. Instead, he radiates absolute pride and determination. _"Promise me that you'll bloom."_

It takes a few seconds for her to wipe her tears and stop sobbing but she finally does and nods tentatively to him. _"I promise dad. I promise…"_

The blankness returns and, for the next few moments, I'm shown a snapshot montage of memories; Pamela shedding tears as her father is taken away in shackles, her with a bag at what I recognize as an orphanage.

She's progressively growing older now as some of the snapshots are of her in libraries, poring over books, shying away from others, graduating from senior high and, as a beautiful young woman, graduating from university. Finding a job at a laboratory that allows her to work on a field of research that she truly loves and, finally, meeting a man that she feels attracted to.

Then, a new scene appears.

She's walking into a laboratory with a vial of some viscous, forest green liquid held triumphantly in her hand as she exudes an aura of confident joy. _"Jason! Jason, I've finally cracked it!"_

The man she's talking to turns to see the grin on her face and, without asking what she means, snatches her up in a hug and presses a kiss to her forehead. _"Calm down Pam! Now, what did you crack?"_

" _Remember the final hurdle I needed to cross to get the growth serum to work?"_ She asks as she holds the vial up to the light. _"Well, after a few discussions with doc Holland and a couple of sleepless nights, I finally crossed it!"_ The grin widens as she dances away from him to twirl about, so happy is she. _"You're looking at the first vial of Isley's Serum!"_

" _You're still going with that name?"_ Jason scrunches his nose up in playful disgust but not before I catch a flicker of rage cross his features. _"Can I test it? I've got that flower pot you gave me last week and the dahlia's beginning to peek out of the soil."_

Without hesitation, Pamela skips across to the item in question and, after carefully uncorking the vial, tilts it till two drops splash onto the tiny green shoot peeking out of the soil. _"Give it a few seconds and…"_

As if by magic, the shoot rapidly grow until it becomes a fully grown dahlia.

Pamela's confidence grows even as Jason's rage festers though the older man skillfully masks his emotions.

" _Pamela this is amazing! You've just found the solution to food shortages globally! Holy- I'm not even sure how to classify how_ big _this is!"_ He seems genuinely happy and, unfortunately, Pamela is too happy to notice the slight hitches in his breathing. This guy is going to be trouble though. I guarantee that. _"Do you mind sharing a drop or two for me to run a few tests on? I mean, even you know that I'm better at quality control tests, doc Holland said so too."_

" _I've actually got some tests running at the moment back in my lab."_ Wonderful! Even in her success-inebriated state, she's still intelligent enough to not just hand out her work. _"I'm heading home now since the results will be out tomorrow so, after I've checked them out, we can go over the QC tests. Sound good?"_

I take that back. She may be more inebriated than I'd originally thought. She basically just told the guy that's _eager_ to get his mitts on her groundbreaking work that she would be away from her lab for a while during which the very research the guy wants would lay there… completely unguarded!

" _You sure you don't want to stay with it? Maybe we could work on it together tonight?"_ I have to give it to him; he's good.

" _Nah."_ She yawns as she backpedals out of the lab. _"Too strung up to be of much use any more. I needs me some sleep!"_

The memory skips forward, showing another montage of Pamela receiving a kiss from Jason, her heading to the elevator and, later, to her car. Then, after she starts the car, she seems a bit angry, steps out and heads back upstairs. She likely forgot something.  
Once again, just like when she discovered her mother's corpse in the garden, something feels off. She notices almost instantly: her lab's door is open and the lights are on.

Moving cautiously, she gets to the doorframe and peeks in only to yank her head back with tears in her eyes.

Jason's inside, rifling through her cabinets and notes while angrily cursing her for hiding her research journal. Apparently, he knows how stupid it would be to approach any one with the serum but no knowledge of how it was made, particularly if he wants to become famous with it.

She seems to debate with herself for a moment before angrily stomping inside to confront him. Somehow, the words only come out as a loud buzz but I can tell that she's furious and his selfish rage is growing.

He lashes out at her, striking her in the face and she staggers back a few steps before grabbing on to a glass rod and stabbing it into his eye. Half blinded, both by fury and pain, he staggers forward, pushing her into a shelf of jars that come crashing down on her.

The memory begins to fade as a sharp pain radiated out from my- her- side. Drawing on the last vestiges of her strength, she opens her jacket to see that the vial of her serum is half buried into her side, just between two ribs.

Then, the memory fades.

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 **Grand Tulip Hotel; Room 641**

"Are you sure you're alright?" Raven asked, watching as a now-blond Naruto gently laid Poison Ivy's inert body on the bed they'd prepared for her. Truth be told, he had given her a bit of fright back at the hall when, after the panicking crowd had been evacuated, she went in to check on him and found him frozen with his index fingers pressed against Ivy's temples. Though she was uncertain what was going on, she had sensed that the two were alive and that her teammate was in control. Then, just as her anxiety began to peak, the two frozen figures were thrown away from each other. Where Ivy remained unconscious, Naruto had regained consciousness swiftly and had instantly ordered herself and Kaguya to take the limo back to the hotel while he worked on getting Ivy there.

The drive had been nerve-wracking for her, though Kaguya had repeatedly assured her that nothing was wrong with the blond.

By the time they arrived, he had finished modifying the seal he had designed to hold Ivy.

"I'm alright Raven." He sighed as he activated the seal. The newly modified seal would allow her body to keep on absorbing nature energy, though just the barest minimum to keep her alive while allowing her to relive some of her most pleasant memories. It was the least he could do for the woman until he could hold a full discussion with Yggdrassil. The Council of the Green had a lot to answer for as far as he was concerned. "I'm just a bit tired. Temporarily breaking her hold over nature like I did then getting her here as fast as I could while avoiding being seen was a bit of a hassle."

"Having to modify the seal as swiftly as you did to prevent her death must have added a bit of strain as well." Kaguya added as she walked in through the adjoining door. "I've spoken to Batman; the rest of the team is back from their mission so he'll have Cyborg connect us to base in about five minutes."

"Wait." Raven cut in sounding quite confused. "You had to modify the seal you already created? To save her?"

The blond nodded tiredly. "Poison Ivy's body actively requires natural energy to keep moving. It's like a combination of solar energy to a plant and crack to a junkie. When I cut her off from the natural energy, she had a negative reaction to the feeling; like a junkie being stopped cold turkey but worse. Her body has grown dependent on natural energy and her mind couldn't function without it so she basically went into a coma. The modification to the seal allows her to draw the barest minimum of energy to keep her alive while allowing her mind to experience a few dream sequences."

"Oh."

"And if you're wondering why I didn't let her die, possibly because of my… discussion with Batman earlier, well, Ivy showed me that there's hope for her to be redeemed." Naruto added with a shrug.

Just then, the room's lights flickered twice before the TV turned itself on.

The letters, 'ROOM CLEAR?' appeared on the blank screen.

Guessing that they could be heard somehow, the blond took the initiative and answered with a clearly enunciated 'Yes.'

Instantly, the blank screen blinked away to be replaced by the live feed of the Mount's central meeting place. Onscreen, the rest of the 'Fate' mission team stood together with Batman, Canary and Cyborg.

"Can you guys see us?" Raven asked, drawing the attention of the rest of the team.

"Sure we- Woah! Raven you look good!" Wally exclaimed as he took in the rest of the team. "And why do you guys have a Poison Ivy cosplayer on the bed? Gotta say, though, she's really good. That has to be the best cosplay I've ever seen!"

"That's not a cosplayer, Wally." Raven corrected with just the barest hint of smugness to her tone. "Let's just say that our mission went well and we caught the target. How about you guys?"

"The _Wallman_ managed to get his fat head stuck in a dusty old helmet and inadvertently got himself possessed by an ages old magical entity." Artemis happily chimed in. Much to the Uzumaki's pleasure, he noted that there was decidedly less animosity in her tone than before they left for the mission. "What a way to prove _'beyond a shadow of doubt'_ that magic isn't real eh?"

"Guess the universe still has a twisted sense of humor." Naruto flashed a grin at them before schooling his features. "Alright, more gist after your debrief. Kaldur?"

The dark skinned Atlantean nodded before launching into a concise retelling of his team's mission.

"Interesting." Batman mused after Kaldur's report. "Anything else?"

"Yes. During the fight, and prior to Kid Flash putting on the Helmet of Fate, Klarion made a comment; he said that we had been 'touched by chaos.'" Kaldur added. "Then, before he released Kid Flash, Fate made a similar comment. He said, and I quote, 'you have been in the presence of chaos yet I sense no evil in you… intriguing…' After that, he released Wally."

Kaguya, from her position behind both Raven and Naruto, noticed how the young magic user tensed at each mention of the word 'chaos' and the gears in her head began to turn. She decided to talk to the girl first, though, before drawing up any conclusions. Upon returning her focus onto the conversation, the white haired princess heard Naruto asking for confirmation of Kaldur's report which Dick immediately provided.

"That was exactly how Fate put it." The Batman's protégé said. "Kaldur didn't miss a word."

"Well, that puts a new spin on things." Canary murmured. "What the hell do they mean, 'touched by chaos'?"

"That'll be discussed later." The Dark Knight decided. "Kaldur, your team performed well today. You can hit the showers."

It was a dismissal and everyone listening knew it. Connor, hothead that he was, bristled and seemed prepared to say something before M'gann placed a hand on his chest and shook her head minutely. Quite impressively, Kaguya noted, the Kryptonian clone's aggression dissipated almost instantly and, after a final glare at the back of the Bat's head, he allowed himself to be led away.

A few moments later, the hall was void of the team leaving Cyborg, Canary and Batman to continue the discussion with the blond's team.

"I'll take it that she acted exactly as predicted?" Cyborg asked, jutting his chin out toward the unconscious redhead behind the blond.

"Yeah." Naruto admitted. "The plan went off almost exactly as we expected too."

"What changed?" Canary asked.

"Naruto shut her out of her ability to manipulate plants as she typically does but then discovered that she has become dependent on said ability to live." Raven answered bluntly. "Basically, he had to modify the containment cell he prepared for her to allow her ability to keep her body alive but her mind under."

"Impressive." Canary smiled. "Though I just see her lying on a bed. Where's the containment cell?"

"We're standing in it." The raven haired girl replied with a shrug.

"I'm surprised that you didn't kill her." The Dark Knight stated. "Considering our… discussion earlier."

"I recall stating that I wouldn't target any of your villains without reason." The Uzumaki shot back dryly. "Besides, Ivy is… different…"

"How so?"

The blond seemed to take a few moments to consider that before replying with a simple: "She's special."

 **Line —~ ~— Break**

 **Unknown Location**

"It's not fair! Not fair, not fair not fair!" Each exclamation was followed by an earth shaking explosion as Klarion the Witch-boy and lord of chaos threw an epic tantrum. Luckily, he had returned to his own pocket dimension so he could go all out in there.

Standing a safe distance away, Vandal Savage helped himself to a bottle of vintage wine while he watched the childish being vent his frustrations. Turning to his companion, he arched an eyebrow and asked, "He's quite the passionate one isn't he?"

Said companion simply lifted a paw in the best approximation of a feline shrug it could give as if to say 'it's his nature.'

"Admittedly so." Savage agreed as he pulled out and glanced at a pocket watch he'd brought along. "The lords of chaos have always been more inclined to give in to their emotions than their counterparts. Unfortunately, this has gone on long enough. I have places to be."

The last sentence was said in a louder pitch so that the enraged magical being could hear him which obviously worked as Klarion ceased his assault and floated back to join the immortal.

"Thanks for indulging me." The lord of chaos huffed as he grabbed the bottle off the table and guzzled it down, ignoring the second glass on the table. "Ah! That hit the spot! You do know your liquors Vandie."

"Certain forms of appreciation come with age." Vandal replied. "So, what happened Klarion?"

A furious scowl appeared on the Witch-boy's face. "I was bested by that order-loving retard Nabu! And, to add insult to this injury, he pulled it off while he possessed a boy with damned near zero magical potential!"

"So the primary and main secondary objectives failed." Vandal mused as the cat nimbly leapt off the table to rest on its master's shoulder. "You didn't get the Helmet and didn't get to test the League's resistance to magic. Things turned out exactly as predicted."

"The Snake fucker with the god complex and his predictions can go burn in the Abyss!" the magical being snarled as his face shifted into a more demonic form.

"After we've achieved our goals." The Immortal shrugged. "Until then, he's with us."

For the next few moments, the two were quiet, looking over the pockmarked barren wasteland that Klarion's dimension resembled at the moment.

"I take it that you _did_ accomplish the third set of objectives?"

"Of course I did." The Witch-boy snapped irritably. "That little team that wrecked your Sumdac operation, at least, the portion I confronted, has next to no magical protection. They only have an Atlantean, a warrior too, not even a sorcerer. Pathetic."

"You said 'the portion I faced'. Why?"

"I didn't go up against the full team. From what I sensed, though, they do have access to a magic user, either as a core teammate or someone the meet quite frequently. I sensed a faint trail of chaos around them." The magical being paused for a few moments, taking another swig of the wine as he did, before continuing. "The thing is, I'm pretty sure I've felt that chaos before. It's extremely familiar but the identity keeps slipping out of reach…"

"That might be useful." Vandal acknowledged. "Try to figure out the identity, we may be able to utilize that. In the mean time, our distraction may have to include Floronic Man."

Klarion balked at that. "Instead of Poison Ivy? What the hell brought that change about?"

"Luthor's plan to bring in Ivy failed." Savage stated, though the lord of chaos could hear the faint undercurrent of anger in the immortal's tightly controlled voice. "According to Sportsmaster, who was to bring her in after she'd killed those men, she was neutralized and carted off by as yet undetermined persons."

The lord of chaos silently contemplated the immortal's words before coming to a conclusion. "Probably the ones I didn't fight."

"Luthor and the Brain share that belief as well. If it was, then we need to get to work on shutting them down fast. They've been throwing our plans askew for too long…"

— **~ ~—**

End.

Sorry guys, Real Life caught me in its snares these past few months.

Music also caught me, particularly Avril Lavigne's _The Best Damn Thing_ and Owl City's _All Things Bright and Beautiful._ Old, I know, but I just rediscovered them so…

Also: go read A Man of Iron. It's a fanfic that just absolutely grabbed my attention and is so damned good!

Well, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's my first time working with a beta so please let me know what you think.

PS: did you think I nerfed Naruto against Ivy? I mean, I'm trying to create balanced fight scenes with certain limitations and all (besides giving everyone and their grandmas the chance to study blondie's most powerful transformations) so that Naruto doesn't have to go hitting Six Path Sage mode every time he needs to fight so I need to know what you guys think.

PPS: I've edited the first ten chapters with the POV markers now. A few clarifications have been added as needed and the errors have been cleaned up (e.g.: The whole 'Superboy, a clone of Superboy' mess). You don't have to go back if you've been following this closely though.

Next chapter will include Naruto's conversation with the Council of the Green as well as a flash back of his chat with Yggdrassil that I hinted at.

Read and Review please.

The Ethereal Lord.


	12. Chapter 12

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 12**_

 _ **Mount Justice; Training Room**_

The first arrow whizzed through the air in a blur before bouncing off the edge of the large bull's-eye.

The second never even got close to the target.

The third bounced off the wall about a foot away from the target.

"Gah dammit!" Wally snapped as he angrily threw the bow in his hand to the ground before crossing his arms across his chest and pouting petulantly. "Why am not getting it?"

"Maybe because archery isn't anywhere near as simple as it seems?" Dick smirked as he carefully pulled back on the drawstring, his stance perfectly mimicking what he'd observed from Artemis.

"No way." The speedster shot back. "It's just a classic application of physics: elasticity, projectile motion etcetera.

All of which I have down pat. There's no logical reason for me not to hit the target."

"Finger motion." Oliver Queen in his Green Arrow persona grinned as he helped M'gann adjust her stance. "You're

a letting the drawstring roll between your fingers instead of simply letting go the instant you're ready to shoot. Also, your stance is a little bit too loose so you're constantly trying to compensate for the minute shifts in your aim."

"Gee Wally, wasn't that the very first mistake he warned us against?" Connor grinned as he prepared to take his own shot. "It's like you're just not cut out for this."

"I think you're right Connor," Dick added, heaping salt on the speedster's already bruised ego, "I mean Artemis is just _such_ a natural at this."

With a snarl of anger, the redhead grabbed his bow and took up the stance again. This time, he decided to forego the arrows so he could perfect his stance. "Honestly, though, I don't get why we have to work on archery, I mean, I move so fast I can literally catch these arrows on a bad day."

"But not fast enough to avoid tripping over your own feet." Connor sniped, leading to Dick hollering loudly.

The speedster just rolled his eyes at them. "Look, my point is simple; why exactly is one of the world's fastest men learning how to use archaic weapons?"

"Now I'll have you know that these 'archaic weapons' have saved my life a couple of times." Green Arrow said as he walked over to join the guys. "And while you're right about being orders of magnitude faster than simple arrows, I have a simple question to ask: what will you do if you ever find yourself in a situation where your powers don't work?"

His innate nature almost spurred the redhead to throw back a witty comeback, his more logical self kicked in, telling him to shut up as the hero in green had a point he intended to make.

"Now, while I certainly won't expect you to go out of your way to grab a bow and a quiver, having the skill in the back of your mind is certainly leagues better than not." The Emerald Archer continued. "It's why those of us without power have something of an edge over you guys; while you tend to specialize almost exclusively in the various ways to use your powers, we never had them in the first place so we have no crutch to lean on. To us, it's gain multiple skills and stay one step ahead of the game or stagnate and become predictable.

"There's a little joke Canary and I often share when we're about to learn something new that seems completely unnecessary. Wanna hear it?"

The three boys showed their assent in different ways; Wally with a nod, a grunt from Connor and an enthusiastic hum from Dick.

"Simply put, it goes: better to look back when you're a geriatric and say 'huh, I never needed to use that' than be stuck in a situation where you need it and be caught pants down'."

"Long winded but has its merits." Dick admitted.

"They seem to be having fun." Kaguya smiled as she watched the rest of the team from the bank of monitors in the training room's control center. "Green Arrow's presence here in particular seems to have lifted their morale."

"It's as a result of something I discussed with Batman." Canary replied, her eyes locked on the spar between Donna and Kaldur. "Black ops team or not, they need to know that we aren't just using them as a means to an end; we have to show them that we can see them, their efforts and successes, and that we appreciate them for it.

"I know that Batman, myself and Cyborg are often around but they see us as more of just supervisors than friends and with Wonder Woman and Aquaman's other duties as well as The Flash's full timetable, Arrow decided to help kick start things."

"It is a wonderful idea." Kaguya conceded as she watched Wally try –and fail- to hit the target again before switching her focus onto the screen the blonde heroine had her eyes on. "Connor, especially, needs this kind of acknowledgement, even if it isn't from Superman yet."

"There might just be a way around that." Canary sighed as Kaldur got pinned by Donna. "Supergirl apparently got wind of things and she came to talk. And while we're still not sure how he'll react, she believes that she can get him to come to terms with who he is."

"Well, I'm glad that not all Kryptonians are morally stiff jerks." The offworlder chuckled. "So, do you have any idea why Kaldur's been getting his ass handed to him so easily? He's normally one of the best close quarter fighters we've got here."

The heroine shook her head, a frown creasing her forehead. "He's been showing signs of being distracted for a while, though he's also done a pretty good job of hiding it. This is the first time I've actually seen him underperform."

"Interesting… And Naruto hasn't spoken to you about him?"

"He's been too busy, between his duties to you, the team and now his attempts to help Ivy."

"Alright then, do you know if today marks any day of special value to him? Or has there been any news from Atlantis, good or bad?" Kaguya asked.

"Not as far as I know. Why?"

"From what I can see, he seems torn, like his head is in one place but his heart's telling him to be somewhere else." The white haired princess smiled softly as she watched the young Atlantean turn away from the Amazon. "He has a connection to his old life that his heart wishes to strengthen but that his head tells him to sever. And that, Canary, is the source of his internal conflict."

The heroine seemed amazed. "You got all that from a couple seconds of watching him?"

"In my father's words, 'a kingdom is made up of its people; understand them and you will know how to lead them.' That principle was part of the reason I chose to wander the lands around the kingdom incognito, with only Naruto as my protection; to understand the people on a level I never would have been capable of if I just sat in the palace" Kaguya explained, mixing the true story of her life with the cover story she had built up in this world. "Within the three year period that I had to explore and to learn before returning to take over leadership of the clam from my father, I learned how to read people within a few seconds, to swiftly determine a person's intentions and, depending on how guarded they are, their surface thoughts and emotions to build a baseline profile for them. It's a skill that helped me immensely during my short reign back home."

"Well damn." Canary whistled as she took in the bits of information the younger woman had just revealed as well as understanding just how skilled the girl had to be at reading people. It wasn't something she hadn't heard off; between herself and Ollie, she was the better reader after all, but the heroine was certain that probably only Batman could match the level Kaguya had attained. "So what would you advise me to do about him?"

"Has the Zeta platform to Atlantis been completed?"

"I believe so, yeah."

"Then I'd say you should let Kaldur follow his heart all the way. If his peace is beneath the waters then keeping him up here will only breed resentment."

"And if it is up here?"

"Then he'll be certain that he followed his heart and he'll never second-guess his decision to stay up here again." The white haired princess answered. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an important meeting to attend."

-Recognized: Red Tornado, S-03-

Hearing the digitized hail, Cyborg turned away from his analysis of the new data Batman had provided on the known members of the Sumdac board just in time to see the crimson android fully materialize. "You're back. Thought you'd been carried off."

"I have not." The inorganic Leaguer replied in the droll monotone its voice was configured to be, the sarcasm flying over its head. "Good day, Cyborg. How have things been with the team?"

"Pretty well, all things considered." A simple thought dragged the display from the monitors in the training room over the work he had been doing, showing the available members of the team as they continued their practice with Green Arrow. Wally had, at this point, all but thrown down his bow in frustration and was now ambling over to where M'gann stood. "They've definitely got the skill to spare and their training sessions are bringing the best out of them."

"Interesting… Though I do not recall Green Arrow being made aware of this team."'

"Not originally, no, but his new protégé, Artemis, joined the team a while back so he volunteered to spend a bit of time working with them."

"Ah. And where is she now?"

"Speedy asked for her assistance on a case." Cyborg replied, recalling the look of utter befuddlement the blonde archer had on her face earlier in the day when he'd asked for her help. "By the way, he goes by the title 'Red Arrow' now and the systems have been updated as such."

The android inclined its head in thanks for the status update. It would have been embarrassing if he'd attacked the young man due to obsolete information after all. Then, it noticed something. "I do not see Raven or Uzumaki. Surely they are still on the team."

"They are." Cyborg agreed. "Raven's on the mainland, she's got a few things she wants to pick up from the bookstore over there."

"And Uzumaki?"

"He's… preoccupied…"

 _ **The Watchtower; Main Hall**_

NAME: ŌTSUSUKI KAGUYA

AGE: 18

DATE OF BIRTH: UNKNOWN

PLACE OF BIRTH: UNKNOWN (OFFWORLD; POSSIBLY UNKNOWN DIMENSION)

ALIAS: SHARD

AFFILIATION: LAWFUL GOOD (UNCERTAIN)

POWER(S): ABILITY TO PROECT BONE SHARDS OUTWARD AS PROJECTILES; ABILITY TO MANIFEST BONE EXTENSIONS

SKILL(S): SKILLED HAND TO HAND COMBATANT; SKILLED DIPLOMAT (UNCONFIRMED); SKILLED ORATOR (UNCONFIRMED); PENDING FURTHER ADDITIONS

WEAKNESS(ES): SUSCEPTIBLE TO MENTAL MANIPULATION [MEANS UNCERTAIN; POSSIBLY TELEPATHIC, MAGICAL MEANS NOT RULED OUT] (RUMORED; UNCONFIRMED); SUSCEPTIBLE TO POSSESSION (RUMORED; UNCONFIRMED)

THREAT LEVEL: DELTA- THREAT TO CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL LEAGUE MEMBERS [ALPHA- THREAT TO LEAGUE AND EARTH AS A WHOLE; SEE NOTES]

Sitting back, the Dark Knight reviewed what had typed out, going over it to ensure that he had made no mistakes, before saving the document onto a specially encrypted partition on the Watchtower's storage drives. While he already had a significantly more detailed report sitting in the Batcave's systems, he had decided to upload a copy –a much watered down copy- in the orbital platform as a backup and now, with the station all but empty, he could do so without much hassle.

-Recognized: The Atom; J23-

'Spoke too soon.' He sighed as he pulled up the analysis Cyborg sent to him regarding the missing data from the Fog's pillaging just before the new arrival got his sight back.

"Batman." The Atom greeted as he walked up with a flash drive in hand. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"I had a few things I needed to put down." The Dark Knight replied, scrolling through the file on display.

"Well, this just makes things easier." The Atom said as he plugged in the flash. "I've got the results you wanted."

Something about the way the size-altering hero spoke had the Bat's danger signs flaring. "How bad is it?" He asked as he got out of the seat and walked over to grab another.

"Very." The Atom answered as he took the vacated seat and began opening the files on the flash drive. "You wanted to what the function of the Bane Venom was in the Blockbuster formula right?" A series of analysis reports popped up over the screen and the scientist spent a few seconds partitioning them such that each of them would show without covering another. "I believe you know what this is?"

On the screen before the Dark Knight, two animated, three-dimensional molecular models of two different chemical compounds popped up; one he knew by heart, the other he recalled within a few seconds. "On the left is Bane's Venom, on the right; the Blockbuster formula."

"Bingo. Seeing as you have a clear idea what the Venom does, I'll skip that." Saying this, the Venom model closed, allowing the Blockbuster formula to take up the entire screen. "The Blockbuster formula is, essentially, an intelligent person's efforts to create a more powerful version of Bane's Venom but without the drawbacks. And, while they didn't quite get there, they sure as hell created something powerful."

"A serum capable of turning the average person into a hulking brute with strength comparable to that of an Amazon, a quick healing factor and the ability to shrug off most levels of pain without a sweat." Batman grunted. "Sounds like they might have gotten what they wanted."

"At a first glance? Maybe." The Atom conceded. "But not when you take into consideration the whole Santa Prisca affair you told me about. Without your interference, we likely wouldn't have this bit of insight."

"Which is?" The Bat prompted, talking over the fact the Atom believed him to have taken down the forces on Santa Prisca himself.

The size-altering hero shunted a new model over to the second screen. "This is what I got from the final product you obtained on the island. As you might have noticed, Bane's venom- or at least specific elements from it- have been bonded to the Blockbuster formula. Basically, the new serum from the island uses the Venom as both a catalyst and a stabilizer for the Blockbuster formula."

"Any idea what kind of effects it'll have on the body?"

"Just theoretical now but that what had me bothered." Two new models showed up, one of a regular human male, the other of a humanoid creature. "They sacrificed the permanence of the Blockbuster formula for enhanced physical stats across board, controllable transformation _and_ intelligence retention."

Batman's eyes narrowed subtly behind his cowl. "The subject can control the transformation?"

"Theoretically." The Atom reminded him. "Once injected, the subject will be able to control their own transformation into- and out of- the enhanced state. As far as I can tell, they'll be about fifty percent stronger than the original Blockbuster subjects as well.

"But, most dangerous of all, the subject will retain, at the very least, fifty percent of their untransformed intelligence."

The Bat released a breath as he sat back in the seat, mentally going over all the information he had just seen. "Any weaknesses?"

"A few: subjects can only transform thrice in a day of their own volition, any more and they simply collapse, unable to utilize the transformation again; they need close to two hours between transformations for their bodies to build up sufficient energy to initiate another transformation and, finally, subjects have, at most, a total of an hour per day to spend in their transformed state before the toll on their bodies become too great to handle at which point their bodies begin to break down until, finally, they tear themselves apart."

"So it's a question of if their opponents can outlast them…" The Dark Knight mused. "What about between transformations. Can they still move when they release the transformation?"

"They should be able to, though they'll be stuck at about fifty percent power for the first thirty minutes."

"And these calculations, do they factor in energy output?" The Dark Knight pressed on, seeing a possible chink in the new serum's formidable defenses, something that the Atom picked up on in seconds.

"No. These are based on the effects of the serum in a stable state, essentially when the subject is calm. In an excited state, however, say the subject is forced into a fight… Well, it is possible that the serum might just burn itself out at a faster rate…"

 _ **Happy Harbor**_

"… _In a way, peace is the whole problem."_

 _"How could peace be a problem?" Luke asked._

 _"Please, don't get me wrong," Mon Mothma said. "War is a terrible business, and I hope it never comes again. But there are ways in which war is simple and clear as peace rarely is._

 _"In war, the enemy is clear, and he is outside your group. All of your friends and allies must come together for survival. In peacetime, there is no enemy. There are merely people who vote against you on this issue, and side with you on that proposal._

 _"We fought the Empire in the name of liberty and justice but now our task is to make liberty and justice_ _ **real**_ _. We are now seeking to correct wrongs that would have seemed trivial in the old days. There was no time to worry about the fine points of fair legislation when we were about to get our throats cut._

 _"Peacetime is complicated, murky. We could win the war by blowing up a Death Star or two-but we can only win the peace by building new space stations, new houses, new cities. That is not a question of largess or generosity. if we do not rebuild, there will be new unrest, new disturbances, and new war. In peacetime, you cannot win by destroying, but only by building-and it is always far easier to destroy. That is, quite literally, a law of nature._

 _"Rebuilding is slow, painstaking, work, unsuited to a warrior's mentality. That is the real problem, for people like you and me. We became addicted to the thrills, the challenges, of war, and now they are gone. There are those who will be tempted to stir up trouble just for the sake of having some excitement."_

 _"I doubt that is so, Mon Mothma," said Luke. "There will always be perils and challenges. The universe is a dangerous place. And I also don't know that I am addicted to such things. I could live the rest of my life quite happily if no one ever tried to kill me again."_

" _Ambush at Corellia_ , huh?" A clear voice asked, cutting into the slight daze she was in. Looking up from the antique armchair she was curled up in, Raven was met by the smiling face of an elderly woman with grey hair tied into a bun and a few strands hanging free.

"Hey Mrs. Gonzalez. Did I get carried away again?"

"I only started speaking when you came back to our world." The woman answered in a lilting voice, her bright blue eyes crinkling in mirth behind her glasses. "Not as bad as some other times, yes?"

"I suppose not." The young magic user smiled as she unfurled herself from the couch and stretched.

"Oh to be young and limber again." Hailey Gonzalez chuckled. "I was just like you with a book back in the day; just find the nearest couch and curl up like a cat! I try a stunt like that now, though, and I'll be feeling it for months!"

"Joys of being old." Raven laughed as she glanced at her watch. "Wow I've been here a while! Is there anything I can help you with before I leave?"

"Let me think…" Her brow furrowed in thought, Hailey leaned just a bit more on her cane to take the weight off her sprained ankle. "Well, since Sarah's gonna be dropping by later, I don't quite have much for you to do. Just help me with the box of old tomes the barrister dropped off while you were off fighting aliens with fancy footwork and glowing energy blades."

"Someone's gotta save the world." She shrugged as she followed the older woman to the front desk of the bookstore and gestured at a small carton lying on the center table. "This one right?"

Because the store was just a converted section of the woman's home, the reception was just a cordoned off section of the living room with the only furniture besides the cash desk being the aforementioned center table and two high-back chairs. The section they'd just come in from, formerly the rest of the living room, now sported four wide shelves, six couches and another center table and was the storage-slash-library section.

"The very same, Rachael." Hailey nodded as she slowly took a seat on the couch behind the desk. "Put the books in the shelf right of the window."

"Got it." Now with the instructions needed, she hefted the carton up, the deceptively heavy thing throwing her off for a second before she readjusted, and took it to the room. Setting it down at the base, she pulled two books out and rested them on her left forearm while creating space with her right hand. "I'm surprised that the barrister finally let go of some of these. Sarah told me that he didn't seem quite ready to let them go yet."

"You'd be surprised what a young beauty will convince a man to do." Hailey's voice drifted back. "Connie swears that his new secretary has effected a new change in him."

"Thought you said you didn't exactly trust Connie and her rumor-mongering trade?" Slotting the two books in, she reached down to pick another pair only to stop short upon seeing a mother chase after her daughter only for the little girl to whirl round and face the older woman, her eyes sparking with bottled up emotions. She tore into her mother with a tirade of words, angrily bringing up her every point in loud tone, right on Hailey's curb.

"Well, I may have said that but when the evidence is glaring…" the rest of the elderly woman's words were drowned out when Raven tuned in to their conversation in time to catch a few of the words the young child was slinging at her mother.

" _-you NEVER tell me about dad! Just that he's out there working but I've never seen him!"_

" _Jules, honey, listen-"_

" _No! You promised that he'd be at school today but he wasn't! Again!"_

With that, the child, a pretty looking brunette- likely not even twelve yet- stormed down the street, leaving her mom, tired looking and seemingly at her wits end, crouching on the sidewalk, her face buried in her palms.

Unbidden, old- repressed- memories bubbled back up to the surface…

 **FLASHBACK**

 **Azarath- Raven's POV**

 _Feeling the peaceful energies of Azarath swirling around me, I reach inward, seeking the tiny thread linking me to the object of my desires. Along the way, I feel- more than actually seeing them- the other connections and I sidestep each one that won't carry me to where I need to be. Finally, I find the one I've been searching for; a powerful, bright blue thread connecting me to a darker, more violent link. With little more than a mental shove, I swing past the blue link and trace the darker one. The further I move, the more I feel a pressure on my senses, a nauseating feeling that makes me feel shudders rack up and down my physical body. At the same time, I can hear a rumbling baritone that radiates power tempered by deep-seated concern urging me forward, praising my progress and urging me to move further._

 _Obviously, mom's trying to force me away from exploring this connection by exerting her will on me to make me turn back but I won't. Not this time._

 _On and on I push, the pressure building with every step, growing to include feelings of vertigo and bone-biting cold alternating with skin sloughing heat._

 _Still I push on. She's not going to stop me this time._

 _Today, I_ **will** _meet my fath-_

 _Abruptly, everything shatters around me and I feel my consciousness stretch like rubber before painfully snapping back._

 _The first thing I feel as my consciousness settles back into my own body is a skull-splitting headache. I can't even open my eyes out of the fear that the input of information will overload my mind. After a while, I can feel the pain slowly receding and, as it leaves, I become more and more aware of my environment._

 _The first thing I notice is the presence of hands hovering just above my temple and a gentle voice murmuring a chant._

 _A voice I'd recognize anywhere; mom._

 _I can feel my anger growing inside my chest, threatening to burst out and, a tiny part of me observes, that little connection I made to the darker link inside me grows stronger. My eyes snap open and, as I'd expected, mom's leaning over me, her eyes closed and her long chestnut hair tickling my nose. "Did you do it?"_

 _Her eyes slowly open and she stares right into my eyes, though I can't tell exactly what she's thinking. "Yes."_

 _I'm off her lap faster than I've ever moved before, scooting back hurriedly as I try to keep a lid on the fury inside me. Just as I'd expected, she'd cut off the connection I was building, slicing it apart and once again keeping me from my goal. I can feel tears of betrayal pooling at the corners of my eyes. "Why?"_

" _We've discussed this before, Raven." She sounds so coolly detached and, once again, I find myself wishing I could have my warm, caring mom back. I want the woman he used to be before she chose to keep this unnecessary distance between us just so she wouldn't tell me about him. "Under no circumstances are you to try to dig about this subject any more. You are dealing with something-"_

That… **that** __ _is the one thing I won't stand for, not anymore! "You can't even say what we're talking about can you?! It's always_ the subject _or '_ something' _you hate him so much you can't even say who he is can you? Well let me say it now: he is my father! My dad! And just because you hate him, you want to use me to spite him!"_

 _I can see it in her eyes, her body posture; every word I'm saying hurts her more than anything I've ever said before and it feels_ _ **good**_ _to finally know that I'm hurting her in any way possible._

 _And then, like a shutter slamming down, her entire posture changes and her eyes regain the blank look of disinterest that I've come to utterly despise. "We've discussed this before, Raven, and my stance has not budged. You are, under no circumstances, to have any form of contact with him."_

 _With that, she turns to leave, her immaculate robes swirling about her as she moves. Then, at the door, she pauses. "You're like a moth, Raven, drawn inexplicably to the alluring beauty of the fire. What you don't quite understand, what I don't_ _ **want**_ _you to understand, is that this fire? It will all too gladly destroy everything you hold dear…"_

 _I'm not quite sure where it comes from but it's already out of my mouth by the time I realize that I'm talking; "Maybe your hate has made you forget but fire isn't always destructive; it offers light too, and warmth… Maybe you should remember exactly why_ _ **you**_ _were drawn to him in the first place…"_

 **FLASHBACK END**

"Are you alright dear?" For the second time that day, Raven was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of Hailey Gonzalez's voice, this time sounding more concerned than she'd ever heard.

As her mind fully reconnected with reality, she realized that she was leaning over the carton, hand outstretched to pick up what was, to her surprise, the last book.

"You continued the work while you were lost in thought, Rachael," Hailey explained as she saw the look of confusion bloom on the girl's face. "That's why I didn't quite notice that you weren't with me."

"Oh. Sorry, I hope I didn't get you worried." Raven apologized as she picked the book up. It was an old, leather-bound thing, not much larger than the average hardback novel, with slightly yellowed pages. Stenciled simply in cursive font right at the center of the book was its title: _Bindings_.

It was a curious thing, particularly considering the source, and Hailey had no qualms about saying so.

"Maybe it's an old family heirloom?" Raven suggested as she turned the book over to see the back. Nothing but slightly cracked leather. Yet, though extremely faint, the young magic user could feel hints of residual magical energies swirling about it…

"Oh that's doubtful, dear." Hailey snorted at the thought. "The barrister doesn't forget anything and I certainly can't believe that he'd 'accidentally' drop a family heirloom in a carton of old law books."

"You'd be surprised what a young beauty can convince a man to do." She shrugged absently, giving the book a final once-over before moving to find a spot for it. "Huh. This shelf's full."

"Oh don't worry about that, dear. You can have it."

The casual delivery of the response, more than the response itself, left Raven gaping; a reaction that did not escape Hailey's keen eyes.

"What? I can see how interested you are in that dusty old thing. Besides, if the barrister comes around searching then I'll tell him that I'll keep an eye open for it and I'll give you a call."

Raven wasn't quite sure of what to say so she just did the first thing that came to mind: she hugged the woman tightly and thanked her profusely.

 _ **Washington DC**_

"Enjoying the view, your majesty?" The scarred man asked as he walked up to the table behind his companion and picked a glass of white wine. They were standing on the terrace of this penthouse suite atop one of the recently completed skyscrapers jutting up into the skyline, the dark complexioned woman leaning on the balustrade. "We may have lost the direct beauty of the sunrise and sunsets but I think there is a beauty in this; man's progress, his innovation and the architecture of the modern man."

"Perhaps to one such as yourself the beauty of nature has lost its allure." She lifted a shoulder elegantly, the diaphanous shawl around her shoulders subtly enhancing the simple motion. "I, however, prefer the beauty of the rising sun over the sandy plains of Bialya…"

"It sets the sands alight, I remember," he smiled nostalgically, "transforming the white sands to a field of golden dust."

The woman turned her head to glance at him, an eyebrow arched questioningly.

"I do appreciate the splendor of nature, your majesty." He sipped from the glass before setting it down on the table beside him.

A faint smile crossed her face as she turned back to gaze upon the city life far below. "So it would seem."

Silence fell upon them and the cool evening breeze blew past.

"Should I be worried?" The man asked as he walked up to join her by the balustrades. Instead of leaning forward, though, he turned around, leaning his back on the railing and crossing his legs out in front of him.

The eyebrow went back up. "I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what you mean by that."

"I'm pretty sure that you do. You are quite the intuitive woman after all."

"Humor me"

The man sighed, as though pained that he had to be so direct. "You don't like this idea. In fact, I think it goes beyond simple dislike. You hate it."

A husky sounding laugh burst from her throat. "Believe me, Master Savage, I neither hate nor dislike this idea of yours." Then, like a flipped switch, the laughter was gone, the cool indifference back in its place. "I do, however, dislike the timing of this idea."

The big bear of a man, now identified as Vandal Savage, seemed surprised. "You didn't bring up any objections during the discussion a few days ago."

"Because I have only just begun to see things in a different light."

"Explain."

"Whether we like it or not, in the aftermath of the Apokoliptian Invasion, the heroes have become… different. Their tactics as a whole might seem the same yet, based on our initial plans, they should never have interfered with Sportsmaster's pickup on Santa Prisca. The Brain's calculations based on the data garnered in the past ten years put the chances of the League's interference with the first or second shipments at a measly nine percent. We were lucky to have made off with the first batch thanks, in large part, to the snap decision on Cadmus' head of security to transport the first batch as soon as it was ready. Again, they should never have found the data store for the Fog's stolen data yet, they not only did, they utterly destroyed said data. Just last week we've had to factor in the possibility that Poison Ivy will be unable to work with us on the diversion and so we've had to make plans to call in the Floronic Man whose abilities pale in comparison to Ivy's. And all of this has been achieved by a team comprised of brash teenagers. Do you understand why I feel this plan of yours is a bit hasty, Master Savage? Your focus on diverting the League's attention is good but ignoring these children is not."

With her piece said, she turned back to watch the city.

Savage lifted a hand and placed it gently on her shoulder. "Believe me, your majesty, I am not underestimating the children. While it might seem like that, I have been keeping a close eye on their activities. After all, even with immortality one does not survive by being oblivious-"

His words were cut off by a gentle tapping sound that drew their attention over to the glass partitioning the interior of the suite from the terrace. Standing on the interior side of the partition, in a perfectly cut beige suit with a skirt in the place of pants stood Terra.

A slight nod from Savage and she slid the glass open and walked out to meet them. "Kennedy has sent word, Master Savage, your highness."

He prompted her to speak with a simple "And?"

"The Count has taken off, he hit cruising altitude about fifteen minutes ago and has assured that he will inform us when he lands in Vlatava."

"Thank you Terra. You may leave." With a small bow, the blonde left the room, knowing that the seeming choice was a front for the order beneath. Alone again, Savage turned to his companion. "As I was saying, your highness, I have neither forgotten nor underestimated the young heroes. In fact, I have studied our every confrontation with them and have drawn a few conclusions from them."

"Oh?" The woman didn't seem particularly impressed. "Do tell."

"T. O. Morrow's attempt at corrupting the Red Tornado may have been a failure but it provided us with the first hints of a problem: a new group of heroes. The Santa Prisca mission clarified most of the new team's members as well as giving us firsthand intel about their abilities. Ivo's AMAZO project allowed us to take readings from the League and even some of the new team. Even this last mission with Klarion had multiple objectives, the primary being to test their magical capabilities and a tertiary one which the Witch-Boy swears will help to divert attention from us."

"And how exactly does regicide further our cause?"

"Well, if we succeed, we gain a valuable resource: Vlatava. As much faith as I have in our plan and the surety of Bialya's support, I cannot deny the possibility that you might become compromised in the future and we need to have contingencies for that. Vertigo's country can act as a second… basket, so to speak." Savage replied as he walked over to the poolside table. Uncorking the wine from earlier, he filled two glasses as he spoke. "As a side benefit, the Count has sufficient skill, leadership qualifications and notoriety amongst those in the know, to act as the leader of our little… group."

"I do not see the Lord Regent of Vlatava exposing himself to the world on a whim." She countered.

The scarred man smiled as he passed her a glass. "You remember me telling you that the prototype Fog I asked for served its purpose? Well, its purpose was to obtain information from the Vlatavan Embassy that I had a few of our hackers work on. I'm certain that the Count wouldn't want the world to know that he funds the activities of the rebels undermining Queen Perdita's rule now would he?"

"So we gain a new resource and a pawn." She mulled as she swirled the contents of her glass around. "Perhaps even a bishop. Still has no bearing on what I brought up."

"Oh but it does. You see, we currently believe that the Batman is the source of all their intelligence, the children I mean. Now, we can find out just how the Bat thinks when he's thrust into a double pronged attack.

"We've squeezed out as much data as we can from the Sphere Desaad promised. Now, we'll lure them in and Psimon can have a go at figuring out just how powerful their telepath is."

"While we, at the same time, make our move on Perdita." The woman nodded slowly as the pieces of the plan clicked into place in her head. "The Batman must prioritize this; send the rookie squad after the unknown energy pulses? Or have them find and protect the Queen."

"And thanks to the diplomatic visit the young queen will be arriving here in just over two weeks, enough time for word to have spread round the grape vine about the target and the parameters but not enough time or the Bat to have come up with a full on counter." He smiled around the rim of his glass as he quaffed the wine. "So, your majesty, do you still think I'm underestimating them?"

"You've… given me a bit to think of…"

 _ **Gotham**_

 **FLASHBACK**

The last thing she had expected was to open her eyes. After all, she could, even now, recall the sharp pain in her side and the image of the vial of her serum poking out from between her ribs was as clear now as when she'd first seen it.

She had died.

Yet here she was, eyes open, her mind clearly at ease with the situation judging by the fact that she wasn't screaming her head off or just generally freaking out. She'd had a few religious friends back in her college days, some Christian, some Jewish, others Muslim, Buddhists and more. They'd often debate on the afterlife during their off days and, though she'd never participated, she found herself thinking back to those discussions.

'Is this the afterlife?' She wondered, her vision still filled with the blurry white of wherever she was. 'Am I dead?'

'Not yet, dear child.' A new voice whispered comfortingly. 'Although you did come quite close to crossing the Black Gates.'

Even with the aura of warmth the voice projected, she couldn't help the shiver she felt rush down her spine. Gazing around to find the source of the voice was to no avail as everywhere she looked, she saw only the indistinct whiteness that she had first seen. 'Who's there?'

'Dear child, do you not see me?' The voice sounded about as confused as she did. 'I am here, right before your eyes.'

The shivers of fear had become icy claws of dread. Was she blind? After all, that had to be the reason she couldn't see anything. Blindness… She'd have to be re-educated, taught how to read Braille, keep an audio recorder to keep track of her thoughts… Heavens, she'd need a lab assistant to help her at work and, thanks to her all-too-recent experience with Woodrue, she sure as hell wouldn't be doing that.

Like shattered glass, all her dreams and ambitions came crashing down about her head. All she'd worked for, all she'd dreamed of-

'Child!' The voice cut into the spiraling vortex of her thoughts. 'Do not fret, child.'

'I shouldn't fret?' The thoughts came up in a bubble of rage mixed with despair. 'I have lost the ability to do everything that I have dreamed of since I was a child and you expect me not to fret?!'

'I do, dear child…' The voice replied, as calm and calming as ever. 'Now, focus on my voice, dear child, and open your eyes.'

She wanted to rage at the simple words-did the owner of this voice think she was such a fool?- yet, inexplicably, she found herself thinking the words over calmly.

She had nothing to lose if she followed the voice's directive. True, it would break her heart for her fears of blindness to be confirmed but then, she already thought she was blind so…

Taking in a deep breath, she focused on her eyes, on opening her eyelids to see wherever she was…

'That's it, child,' the voice encouraged softly, 'focus… Do not worry about _when_ to open your eyes. Just focus…'

Most of all, she focused on the voice, letting it guide her onward until she felt it; a sensation like cool oil flowing through her mind, strengthening her.

She opened her eyes.

And saw Paradise.

That was all her mind could bring up to describe it; a Paradise the likes of which no other human had ever seen. It was a jungle and a flower garden and a greenhouse all rolled up into a single place; it seemed chaotic, vines crisscrossing about and leaves swaying all about yet she could sense a pattern of orderliness in it. Her experienced eyes picked out various plants that shouldn't have been able to co-exist due to climatic conditions all thriving here as colors that should have clashed mingled perfectly as the flowers bloomed before her eyes and the smell…

"I have to be dead." She concluded as she sat up, all fears of blindness forgotten in the majestic beauty of this place. "Nothing like this exists on Earth, nothing like this _can_ exist on Earth."

"To be honest, child, you're not quite on the Earth at the moment." She spun round upon hearing the voice echo all around her. She'd thought it was a figment of her imagination but now…

"Who's there?"

"Be calm, child. I will not harm you" The voice now seemed less… diffuse, coming from a spot just behind her, and she turned to see who it was.

Her breath caught in her throat.

While not an over the top pervert, she most assuredly wasn't a prude. She had, over her time in college, learned to enjoy the human body, both male and female, and often found herself ranking people based on their looks.

The woman in front of her was simply beyond words. It was like looking at the physical embodiment of this Paradise; everything about this woman screamed perfection in balance. And her eyes… they were green. No whites, no irises, just twin orbs of the most vibrant verdant…

"How do you feel, child?" The woman asked as she sat beside her. "Though you had woken earlier, your mind was incapable of seeing the beauty of this realm without a little… protection."

"I- um, I feel great." She stuttered, barely registering the fact that the woman had explained away her period of blindness. "I feel fine."

"Good." The woman replied simply, reclining on a mound of leaves that she would have sworn weren't there moments ago.

'Okay, Pam, breathe. Just breathe and take a moment to think things through.' She thought to herself. 'Let's start off with location.' With that thought decided upon, she spoke up.

"This place… Well, I suppose you could consider this to be an aspect of Nature; a single plane in this realm."

"An aspect… of Nature?"

"Indeed." The woman replied. "Of course, this is simply my home, not the entirety of this plane; between my brethren and I, we share the entirety of this plane. We have our name for this place but I believe humans would simply call it… The Green…"

"The Green…" Pamela repeated, feeling just a bit overwhelmed by what she was hearing but _craving_ to hear more. "And you said brethren'?"

"I did. I am Einnashé." She said with a little inclining of her head. "My brethren and I form what you would call the Council of the Green…"

 **FLASHBACK END**

When her eyes snapped open, Pamela Isley expected to be in her own version of the Eden Einnashé had shown her. Barring that, she expected the barrenness of her customized cell at Arkham.

Getting neither was the first sign that things weren't normal.

The second was the silence.

Ever since she'd taken up the mantle of the 'Champion of the Green', she'd been hearing the whispers of her children; plant life the world over sought to communicate with their champion, to tell her of the horrible things man had done or planned to do against her domain. It was both a blessing and a curse; the only thing that had helped her retain her sanity after her first stint in Arkham yet the reason she sometimes wished not to sleep. It was one of her most basic abilities.

And she now, couldn't hear them.

It sent a pang of raw terror running down her spine; not **once** , in all the time she had been captured and imprisoned, had she ever been deprived of the voice of her children; not in the custom-cell designed for her in Arkham, not even when she had been injected with the Batman's power-dampening cocktail.

It terrified her.

Yet, she found herself baffled by the experience. She could feel her connection to the Green; it was still there, still keeping her alive, yet he could not call on its powers.

Also, as far as her surroundings told her, she wasn't in any conventional prison that she knew of. After all, which correctional facility provided a clean room complete with a bed, side table and lamp, a dressing table -beside an open window, no less!- and what seemed to be a fully functional bathroom for the inmates?

'And they didn't even strip me either.' She thought as she took in her state of dress; the leaves she often bound to her clothes must have fallen off at some point after her abilities had been dampened and so she was left in the modified corset, bikini and gloves she typically wore. A quick glance downward showed that only her boots had been taken off and they had been carefully set beside the bed.

'No,' she decided as she swung out of the bed and headed for the window. 'This may not be a conventional prison but it is a prison all the same. As expected, this room is at least a floor above the ground level which would explain why the windows are unsealed. They know I won't get far without my children.'

Having come to that conclusion, she turned toward the bathroom. 'They likely don't want me dead, whoever brought me here. There's really no point in stripping me of my abilities and allowing me to enjoy such a pleasant night.' She found herself stopped short by the first thing she saw in the bathroom. 'And a change of clothes too? If they actually want me dead then they have a really strange way of going about it.'

"… so now he's waiting for the book?" Naruto asked, switching the phone to his left hand to hold to his ear while he reached down to pull open the oven.

" _Yeah."_ Kaguya replied. _"He says that he should be able to get it proofread within three weeks of his getting it."_

"Alright then, send me his mail and I'll send the draft copy over."

" _Sure. How's Miss Isley doing?"_

Carefully, to avoid spillage, he pulled out the pan carrying leg of mutton he'd been roasting. "She was still asleep about twenty minutes ago. Beyond that, though, I'd say she's okay."

" _Fine. I'll talk to you later."_

"Bye." Sparing a glance at the phone to cut the connection, he slipped the device into his back pocket and focused on transferring the meat onto a tray and draining the gravy into a container he'd prepared in advance. All of this was almost mechanical though, as his mind was on his 'guest'.

From what he'd been told by Yggdrassil, Pamela had been chosen as the 'Champion of the Green' a representative of their council. Or perhaps the term 'ambassador' was a better fit. Whichever it was, she wielded phenomenal powers over plants to aid her in her task of protecting plant life all over the world.

'It it, at its core, a good, maybe even a noble cause.' He thought as he worked. 'Animal life is, after all, tied very closely to plant life.'

So why? Why did she choose to go down the path of direct aggression instead of trying out a more peaceful approach? Was it something related to Einnashé? After all, according to Yggdrassil, champions often took on certain characteristics of the one who had brought them before the Green. Maybe certain elements of the _Disemboweling Sea of Trees_ had bled into her chosen?

Further rumination upon the matter was brought to a halt, though, when he picked up the sound of a door being shut.

Taking a quick moment to rinse his hands, he grabbed the gravy container and stashed it in the refrigerator -for the time being- as he made his way into the living room.

Her back was turned to him as she stared about the admittedly Spartan furnishings of the large room. He had taken her to the safe-house that Batman had all but given him instead of the more frequently used place at the Harbor as a precaution.

"I'm glad to see you up." He said and he observed the slight tensing of her shoulders before she calmly turned to face him but said nothing of it. "I was afraid that you might have been forced into a coma by my actions."

She said nothing, her green eyes staring intently at him as she crossed her arms underneath her bust. Naruto sighed internally as he walked over to a chair a few feet away from where she stood, hoping that things would go, if not smoothly, then at the very least without too many hiccups.

"Are the clothes okay?" He asked, pressing on with a lighter issue. "Or will you prefer a change? If so then please let me know your preferences and I will try to get them for you." The clothes she was in at the moment, a pair of jeans and a plain black tee, had been picked out by Kaguya based on their simplicity.

"These are… adequate." She replied slowly, seemingly bothered by the question before her eyes hardened. "I take it you're my captor?"

The shinobi winced slightly at the last word. His actions _did_ make him seem like a captor… "I suppose I will have to -tentatively- accept that designation. Though, in all honesty, I really would have preferred it if we'd met under different circumstances."

Those verdant eyes glared at him spitefully. "What kind of _circumstances_?"

"At the very least, one that didn't involve me having to stop you from killing people and then pulling you out of a building that the police were very much interested in storming." He shot back, slightly annoyed by her tone. "The only reason you're not in a cell at the moment is because _I_ pulled you out of that building."

Abruptly, her expression changed from veiled anger to a mocking sneer. "What, and that makes you a hero? I'll have to remind you, Mister-I-pulled-your-ass-out-of-the-fire, that I would was perfectly capable of getting out of that building until _you_ did whatever it was that you did and stripped me of my connection to my children! That inside here I'm in as much of a cell as I would have been back at Arkham except _inside here I can't hear them! I can't hear the voices of my children even though I should and I know that it is because_ **you** _did_ _ **something**_ _to me!"_ Her voice had risen as she raged at him and so, now, her chest heaved as she took in gulps of air to calm herself down.

For an instant, a mere fraction of a second, Naruto felt rage threaten to overcome him. That moment flashed by and all he knew in its wake was guilt. In her anger filled rant, he had heard the cries of the little girl, Pammy, and he heard the underlying message in her words: _you've cut me off from the only companions I have learned to trust._

He couldn't be angry at that; not when he, even now, remembered the feeling of being all alone in the world.

"I… I'm sorry." He started, a bit reluctantly. "I didn't know your connection to the plant life was so powerful and when I altered the… serum… I used to dampen your powers, I didn't realize that it would cause you such pain."

"Just…" She tried to glare at him and make demands but failed horribly and could only turn away from him. "Just give it back."

Hearing the brokenness in her voice made him flinch as though he'd been struck and the words he spoke next had him feeling like an absolute heel. "I can't."

She turned to him so quickly he was half expecting her to grab her neck in pain of the whiplash. Her eyes, once brimming with anger and indignation, were now swimming in tears. "I don't need to be able to call them to me. I don't care about having them attack you or defend me; I just need to _hear_ them. I need to hear my babies. _Please._ "

The desperation in her tone was heart-wrenching yet he remained steadfast. To do what she asked, he would have to understand her abilities, know just how connected she was to the Green –and Kami did he _hate_ how much that made him sound like Kabuto- before he could adjust the dampening seal he had placed on her. That wasn't something he could simply tweak and hope for the best because if her powers surged out of control then the Gotham docks would suffer for it. And, should things flip around and her connection to the Green be fully cut off, she would, almost certainly die…

Perhaps she had read into his silence or was simply better at reading people's body language, whatever the case, she had read into his silence and understood that he couldn't do anything at the moment. The tears, after a while, stopped, and she simply turned away from him to stare at the opposite wall. After a while, she spoke up again; "Why did you bring me here? Clearly you don't want to kill me and I see no point in my being kept around like a pet if I can even do any tricks."

He sighed again. She was back to being snarky. "I wanted to talk to you. It's what I meant when I said that I'd wished we met under different circumstances."

"And what exactly did you want to talk about?"

The blond held up his hands, gesturing that she should remain calm. "I just wanted to understand why you chose to become Poison Ivy."

 _ **Excerpt taken from:**_ Star Wars: The Corellian Trilogy; Ambush at Corellia- Chapter 4; The Dangers of Peace

For some reason, this chapter – _about half of the entire_ _ **bloody f**king reason I added the Poison Ivy storyline-**_ was almost ruined by a number of factors.

For starters, by the time I got around to starting this, the Council of the Green portion (the council discussing with Naruto about Pamela) was wiped from my system together with a bunch of other documents.

Then, when I finally got around halfway through this chapter, the laptop gave out on me.

I just got it fixed and the second half of this chapter was pretty much just thrown together over twenty four hours. I'm not even sure I can deliver on getting the council convo back into the story.

Damn it. Considering the fact that Pammy may not even show up for a while just makes me feel even worse about this.

Anyway, the chapter takes place during the episode ' **Downtime** and, with this, I can get into what I will call the Nirvana arc.

Expect Raven's demons, big battles and a whole new plan I created specifically for the Light.

Read and Review Please.

The Ethereal Lord.

 _Note: Vandal Savage, contrary to the imagery conveyed by his name, is not some brutish thug. He can act brutish, but he is not one. Hence the respect he shows Queen Bee; he sees her, not so much as an equal as someone whose rank deserves respect. In the same vein, Queen Bee is_ _ **NOT**_ _subservient to Vandal. As far as the Light is concerned, they are all equals. She refers to him as 'master' though as a form of respect. Hope that clears a few things up._


	13. Chapter 13

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter 1**_ _ **3**_

 _ **Unknown Location**_

Darkness.

It is the very first thing she feels as she begins to adjust to this strange place she finds herself; an encompassing darkness so thick that is almost tangible.

Her senses begin to come to life, expanding her awareness.

No smell.

No sounds.

Nothing.

Her eyes begin to adjust, the last of her senses to come online in this... Void? It feels like one. Regardless of whatever this place is, as her eyes open, she comes to the realization that what she had first felt was not quite accurate.

Her vision is filled with an unending vista; a curtain of darkness randomly interspersed with tiny spots of brilliant light. At some points, the lights are clustered thickly, seeming almost like one large light source while others are vast swathes of darkness broken up by just one or two of the tiny lights.

' _It's oddly beautiful isn't it?'_

She whirls around and come face to face with a startling vision: a beautiful young woman with flowing, ivory hair and eyes a brilliant shade of violet, dressed in a regal looking kimono kneels before her - _sitting in seiza_ , her mind supplies-, smiling serenely.

'You're the one that just spoke?' She means for it to come out as a statement but fails miserably. It sounds like the question of a scared child.

The strange woman simply arcs an eyebrow. _'Do you see anyone else here?'_

Fighting valiantly to reign in her emotions, she responds: 'I merely sought to confirm.' inwardly, she flinches, realizing that, in her anxiety, she has slipped into her old manner of speech.

If the strange woman notices, she says nothing of it, instead prodding her with her next question; _'And now that you have?'_

'My curiosity is sated.' She lies smoothly, her facade changing to conceal her thoughts and feelings.

In more mundane terms, her poker face was on.

The woman simply laughs _'You can't lie to me, my dear. I know how desperately you want to understand what this place is, what is happening and, most of all... I know just how desperately you wish to know exactly who you are.'_

The poker face shatters. How? How does this woman know-

' _-exactly what you were thinking?'_ The woman laughs again, her eyes twinkling with mirth. She isn't so much laughing _at_ her as she is laughing at the fact that she knows something that isn't common knowledge yet. _'Let me ask you something; since you gained awareness in here, have you taken a moment to simply look at_ _ **yourself?**_ _'_

The question strikes her like a lightning bolt and sends her mind screaming through the memories of the moments since she had awoken in this absurd place.

The realization strikes even harder.

She **hasn't** looked at herself since she first gained awareness; she had been mesmerized by the chaotic beauty of this strange place, then struck by the beauty of the woman before her and had then engaged in the discussion that had gotten her to where she currently was but she had not, at any point, actually taken the time to look at **herself**.

' _Well go on then.'_ The woman smiles indulgently, like a parent to a hesitant child at Christmas. _'Have a look.'_

Go on, then, open up your gifts.

She doesn't hesitate.

And then, she wishes she had.

No, she wishes she hadn't listened in the first place.

'What sort of twisted gamed are you playing at?' She asks coolly, though her insides are a slushy mix of anger, denial and fear.

The woman simply laughs again, not quite mocking but certainly not innocent. _'You are afraid, aren't you? Beneath all the denial and the rage, you are afraid. And you can't quite tell_ _ **why**_ _can you?'_

The anger, the denial and the fear all grow higher and higher pitches, melding as they grow until it takes just about all of her mental discipline to force them down. Her words, when she is able to speak, come out as a harsh hiss escaping through clenched teeth. 'Shut-'

' _I'll tell you.'_ The woman cuts her off with that damnable smile still on her lips. _'You and I? We are the same being.'_

The chain binding her emotions snap like thread over a fire.

'Stop lying!' She roars angrily, striding forward -legs hampered by the same kimono _the woman_ wears-, hands lifted in anger and her face -the same as that of _the woman_ \- contorted in a mask of fury. 'Stop lying! We are **NOT** the same being and we can **NEVER** be the same-'

Her raging words are cut off when she suddenly finds herself seated in _seiza_ , right opposite the woman. They are mere feet away, three feet at most, yet, when she tries to move, she finds that her own body is casually ignoring her commands.

' _To be honest, I suppose you are right.'_ The woman shrugs casually like nothing out of place has happened. _'We aren't_ quite _the same being.'_ A flash of vindication runs through her upon hearing this. A slight, knowing smile is the only warning she has. _'The truth of it is this: I am an aspect of you, growing inside of you for quite a while now but only just being born.'_

Her mind rails at this revelation, deeming it impossible.

' _Impossible? Well then, allow me to present some evidence to support my case.'_

Then, the woman's right arm stretched out, well beyond human capabilities, expanding as it went, twisting past the tiny spots of light as it went onward.

Only to snap back into place so fast she felt it had only been a hallucination.

Then, the woman stretched her hand toward her and her mind quailed in fear.

The last thing she noticed was that, as it flew past her temple, the woman's curved palm held a tiny point of light...

 _ **Gotham**_

 _ **Hours Earlier...**_

For the first time since their arrival on this Earth, Naruto found himself wishing he'd simply not done anything during the War. 'Maybe if I had done that, I wouldn't be in this mess.'

"Kaguya come on; we've been at this for close to three hours now and we haven't gotten anywhere yet." He pleaded as they walked through one of the less busy areas of the docks. "We're headed toward the Mountain and I feel we should get this out of our way before we have to meet up with the others."

The princess just kept strolling on, moving as though she had not a care in the world. "Is that what you feel? Well, I'm glad that you're _finally_ sharing your feelings and opinions."

Even though the sarcasm in the reply was biting, Naruto took it as a win; at least now he had a starting point, of sorts. He had to keep looking for positives, no matter how hard because he _really_ didn't want to get upset at her. "Is that what this is about? My not telling you before I made my decision?"

"No, I'm upset because you hogged all the pillows last night."

"We don't even sleep in the same room." He replied exasperatedly, as the mental exhaustion began to set in and wear his control down. "Besides, like I told you, letting Pamela leave was a spur of the moment sort of thing, you know, those kinds of decision that can only be made in the moment. You understand that don't you?"

"No, Naruto!" She snapped back, her own temper boiling over. "She's a top class villain in this world and you simply let her go on a whim?"

"Hey! Some of my best decisions were made on a whim!"

"And that's the problem!" Kaguya shot back. "Did you even spend a moment to think of the dangers of sending a verified Eco-terrorist right back into the world? She has nothing to return to, no one to return to! You've essentially set off a loose cannon!"

Even as his anger ripped past every mental block he'd put in place, Naruto experienced a moment of clarity just long enough for him to activate the localized silencing seal he'd engraved into the back of the wristband he wore. "Maybe if you had listened to me _even once_ you would know that she bought the old apartment her mom stayed in as a single lady! Maybe if you had _listened_ you would know that I never took off the modified dampening seal I left on her! If you had listened, you would know that I have locator seals on her **every limb**!

"But you haven't listened! Not even once since you showed up today have you even _attempted_ to listen to a word I've said!"

"You took the decision without my input-!"

The harsh bark of laughter that ripped out of the blond's mouth was every bit as cynically sarcastic as he felt at that moment. "And you haven't? If I recall correctly, _you_ took the decision that set us on the path we're currently treading! You decided to tell Batman that I was your bodyguard, passing yourself as some high and mighty, innocent princess that was victimized by some shadowy entity."

"I did that to give us a cover story!" She yelled back angrily even as her eyes grew misty.

Somewhere deep inside his subconscious, a part of Naruto noticed it and felt vindicated though his conscious self didn't notice. "And I backed up your decision didn't I? Am I not still backing it even now? Have I ever given you any trouble over it?" When she didn't answer, he pushed forward. "So why the hell does it matter so much to you that I tender every decision before you? For God's sake, Kaguya, Pamela is essentially this world's version of you!"

"Like hell she is!"

"Oh really?" The blond arched a disbelieving eyebrow upon hearing that. "Young girl desperate to change the world as she knows it comes into contact with power, it gets to her head and she nearly destroys the same thing she's fighting for. Does that ring a bell?"

It did. And, judging by the fact that she wouldn't look him in the eye, the Uzumaki guessed that she had come to a similar conclusion at some point and had merely glossed it over.

He felt not a whit of regret in pointing it out. "So it had occurred to you too and you couldn't cut her some slack?" With a sigh o disappointment, he turned away from her and started walking away, leaving her behind before he stopped. "A partnership of any sort requires a certain degree of trust, Kaguya. You would do well to remember that."

With his piece said, he walked ahead to the access point for the Zeta tube.

 _ **Mount Justice**_

When Kaguya finally walked through the Zeta tube, she met with a wall of quiet that felt at odds with the Mountain considering that it was just an hour past noon.

"Too quiet huh?" Cyborg smiled at her as he clunked in, carrying a stack of documents.

"How could you tell?" She asked as she moved over and offered to help him with it.

"Nah thanks, I'm good." The mecha-human waved her off and walked over to the computer console. "As for how I could tell, well you pretty much had the question sketched on your face. Plus, Naruto noticed the same thing a few minutes ago."

It took her actively schooling her features to hide the wince that threatened to mar the smile she'd plastered on. "Let me guess; Wally isn't here yet?"

"Nope. Plus, Robin's not here, Connor has a guest, M'gann dragged Raven to learn her way around a kitchen and Donna and Artemis are sparring with Kaldur."

"Ah, our Atlantean ambassador's back." She commented, resting on the table as he began scanning the documents. "How is he?"

"He's fine. Black Manta's failed heist-turned-siege was broken three days ago and the Trident was returned to the King of Atlantis." Cyborg replied. "He returned yesterday with Captain Holly Short, though the Captain's gone now, and apologized to the team for his bout of indecision. That was actually what led to the par going on right now. Wanna watch?"

"Please."

The mecha-human didn't verbally respond, he just turned on another monitor and diverted the feed to it. "Apparently, Donna was still a tad pissed at him for last week and wanted to verify the sincerity of his words."

"And Artemis?"

The League member snorted. "She was bored."

"Of course she-"

She was cut off abruptly as Naruto shot into the room like a bullet, a stormy expression on his features and muttering what sounded like a vile string of curses.

"Cyborg please take me off the active duty missions for a while; my informant just got word to me that there's a plot for the head of Queen Perdita of Vlatava."

Cyborg's response was instantaneous as he started trawling through the internet to find any details of such. In the meantime, Kaguya found it difficult to look at him though, in his rage, he didn't seem to notice. "I haven't found anything yet but I'll keep looking. Leave a link open here so I can send anything I find over."

"Got it. If I have to go dark I'll let you know." The shinobi nodded before heading to the Zeta tube.

He never noticed Kaguya's apologetic glance.

"A week ago, satellites picked a burst of exotic energy that lasted for exactly two minutes sixteen seconds, somewhere in the Bialyan Wilderness." Batman stated as he pulled up the satellite imagery and the energy readings. "The readings matched nothing ever detected on Earth but since it was just a single, randomly placed event, the Atom and I felt it was not an urgent matter and so we felt we could analyze it at our leisure."

"I'm guessing that it has become urgent." Wally muttered before being silenced by Artemis' elbow to his side.

"Four days ago, the readings were picked up again, this time lasting longer and coming in a random pattern." The Dark Knight continued. "Our analysis moved to top priority, neither of us were able to identify the energy signature until Cyborg took a look at them."

"The first thing that stuck out to me was that their extra-dimensional nature." The mecha-human continued, picking up where the Bat had stopped. "They looked very much like something I'd seen before and, a few minutes of analysis later, I understood why."

"They were Apokoliptian?" Robin guessed.

"Close." Cyborg replied as he pulled up a rendering of two energy patterns. "But what the satellites picked up wasn't Apokoliptian. According to my databanks, it is from New Genesis, a second world in the dimension Darkseid resides in."

For the first time since his return earlier in the week, Kaldur frowned. "A possible invasion?"

"While the residents of New Genesis seem to be downright peaceful compared to their counterparts, we aren't ruling out the possibility that we could be registering the arrival of a scouting group." Batman continued. "As such, we'll need you to look this."

"Scout the the scouts." Superboy grunted, a bit disgruntled that the mission had disrupted his time with the first visitor he'd ever had who _actually came solely to see him._ "Why is this just coming up now?"

"Bialya's not exactly a friendly country to the concept of heroes, particularly the Justice League."Kaguya spoke up. "And while their Queen certainly doesn't seem to hate the League, she has expressed her dislike for the autonomy of the League and humanity's seeming decision to just grant them access to any location in the name of fighting for justice."

"Precisely." Batman nodded. "However, while the League is well recognized, this team isn't and as such you can infiltrate the location swiftly, investigate and head out just as quickly."

"The Queen began a two week diplomatic tour two days ago." Cyborg picked up again. "We're giving you twenty-four hours to get in there and make your preliminary findings before we decide if you should stay a bit longer."

Sensing that the briefing was done, Kaldur turned to his team and told them to prepare for, at the very least, a forty-eight hour mission, and to meet in the hangar within twenty minutes.

"I noticed that Naruto wasn't present during the mission briefing."

"Good eye." She replied as she tested the keenness of the twin daggers that said blond shinobi had given her as a part of her 'Shard' outfit. Seeing that they wouldn't require sharpening, she tucked them away into their sheaths and picked up her bracers. "Do you need anything else?"

Batman loomed in the doorway, the lighting of the room which she had dulled as she prepared adding a sense of dread to him that would have frightened a lesser person. He had timed his arrival to ensure that while he didn't walk in on her as she got into the skintight bodysuit that she wore beneath the armor of her costume, he would still have sufficient time to talk to her.

"Where is he?"

"Off doing something important I expect." She shrugged, sounding every bit as unimpressed by his intimidation act as she felt. "Is there a problem?"

"He should be here for this mission."

"Prior engagement."

"Being a member of this team-"

"Doesn't mean much." She cut him off mid-sentence. "While we did chose to join this team of yours, you would do well to remember that we gave certain conditions, Batman. You get to keep an eye on us- multiple eyes in this case, digital _and_ organic- and we get to live our lives as we so choose."

"His presence-"

"Is not an absolute requirement for this mission. You cannot possibly expect me to believe that, had we never shown up, you would not send the team out on this mission. You would still require the information you do now and you would still be constrained by the very same reasons." She countered instantly as she finished her preparations, leaving only her mask off. "At the moment, Naruto is busy and cannot pander to your whims. This situation may very well repeat itself in the foreseeable future and if you feel that you cannot deal with it then you should feel free to let us leave."

With her piece said, she marched right past him and into the hallway before pausing and glancing back. "If you must know, however, he left to check up on rumors that a hit had been placed on the Queen of Vlatava. Perhaps you should have asked Cyborg before charging in uninformed..."

‹‹‡››

 _ **Unknown Location**_

She reels as the memories bloom in her mind, filling up empty spaces yet leaving many more holes starkly void.

"I am... Kaguya?"

She sounds uncertain, piecing together details of her own identity through the few glimpse she has just seen.

" _Ōtsusuki_ _Kaguya, yes."_ The strange woman smiles benignly, making no move to help her twin. _"Relax... The memories will filter in steadily and the holes will fill up."_

She tries to obey, tries to slip into the meditative state that she's always been able to fall into so easily. Her father had always commended her on that, her ability to calm her mind, relax and let the possibilities flow.

It was the one thing she was better at than the man in question yet the prized skill eluded her now.

"What... What is going on?" She could barely manage the short question through the pounding haze that surrounded her head.

" _Not quite long after you landed, Kaldur opted for a telepathic link instead of an electronic communication system. M'gann hooked your mind up to that of the rest of the team and the instant that was in place, the mission began in earnest."_ The stranger seems content to not help as the pounding continues. Absently, Kaguya notes that the stars almost seem to be moving and every once in a while, she would catch a glimpse of a pattern she could identify. _"Soon enough, Raven and M'gann who had flown ahead for aerial reconnaissance returned with the news: a strange compound was up ahead with many scientist-types scurrying about. A plan was swiftly crafted for one or two people to sneak in, the two being Raven; due to a hybrid disillusionment charm she spoke of, and M'gann for her natural abilities. The rest of the team fanned out until the compound was surrounded for ease of access should either infiltrator require quick rescue."_

"What... Happened?" Kaguya asks as the pounding begins to dull. "To this... To the team? What happened to them?"

" _The infiltrators were caught. There was a powerful telepath inside the building and he found dear M'gann almost as soon as she set foot into the compound. She instantly tried to protect the rest of the team but her foe was... I would say too_ _ **skilled;**_ _more of a sledgehammer versus a surgical blade thing. She tried to escape with Raven, to return to the rest of the team but she barely got past the compound when she cried out: the telepath had reached into her mind -invaded it, actually, the poor girl- and sent what felt like an ultra-precise bolt of raw power into the connection holding the team together. It, for all intents and purposes should have fried your minds but the sheer density of M'gann's mental powers helped cushion the impact."_

"What else?" She demands. She can sense that the entity before her is withholding something from her. "You said that her powers helped to 'cushion the impact' which means there was an impact. I need to know."

" _Picked that up didn't you? Shows that your mind's finally clearing up. Though that's no surprise seeing that you now recall most of these patterns"_ The entity smiles as it gestures toward the specks of light that Kaguya now notices have arranged themselves into easily recognizable patterns. _"As to your question, the psychic bolt should have ripped away your individual identities, leaving only blank slates for whoever was running the operation to use as they saw fit. Instead, the rest of the team lost their memories of the past six months."_

Something about that statement strikes Kaguya the wrong way. She has just recalled a memory of, if the entity before her was sincere, the events leading to where she was now. In fact, now that she her mind is on it, she recalls, with perfect clarity, just _who_ she is as well as each and every one of her memories, from her childhood to her teens; her decision to consume the fruit of the Shinjū and her year of mental captivity.

She remembers _everything_.

So why...

" _I did say 'the rest of the team'."_ The entity answers the as-yet unspoken question. _"Your mind, though, was affected quite differently."_

By this point, Kaguya is on the verge of pulling her hair out by the roots. Teeth clenched together tightly, she manages to grind out her question. "What _exactly_ happened to me?"

" _The psychic bolt stripped your consciousness from your body and so, in the physical world, your body is currently comatose."_ The entity states factually before smiling again. _"You are, as it stands, in your own head."_

"What, and you're supposed to be my conscience?"She asks with as much snark as she can inject into the question because, as much as she wants to deny the mere concept that the entity has just propounded, Kaguya suspects, deep inside her, that nothing she has heard is a lie.

For the first time since her awakening, the entity rises out of the cross-legged seating position it had taken and turns away from her. Without a word, the entity simply walks away.

Armed as she is with the knowledge that she is currently stuck in her own mind, Kaguya suspects that the entity walking away is her best shot at getting out of here so she follows it, walking a step to the right and two steps behind it.

'Exactly where Naruto stands when we're upholding the ruse.' She noted absently, a tiny pang seizing her heart as she inadvertently recalls their last one-on-one conversation.

" _Why did you choose to eat the fruit?"_

The question snaps her out of her fugue and she notices with a start that the void-like expanse has been replaced by a familiar hallway with rice sheet walls and mahogany floor paneling. As they stop in front of an open archway, she realizes that this is her childhood home.

And in the room, engaged in a heated conversation, stands her father and a slightly younger version of herself.

 _ **"Father, please! This may just be the way to heal Toneri and end the Wars forever! Isn't that what you want?"**_

" _Well?"_ The entity prods quietly as the conversation in the room continues. _"You had no evidence that the fruit from the Shinj_ _ū would grant you the power to do as you wished."_

"The evidence was..." No answer comes to mind. It is a question that she has never truly stopped to think about; why exactly did she think that the fruit was the answer?

 _ **"Try it, Kaguya, and I will have you locked away in a padded room, one without windows, and I will claim that your mind has been broken by your brother's sudden decline in health."**_

" _Didn't you ever wonder why father was ready and willing to go to such lengths to stop you? If you look through our memories, you will find out that this was the only time that he threatened us with a punishment."_

She does not need to; once again, Kaguya knows that the entity is right. Her father had always been extremely proud of her, often bragging to her uncle of how much she took all of the best features of her parents.

She cannot say a word.

" _What exactly made you believe that feasting on the fruit in its raw form would grant you the power to heal Toneri-kun? Did you even consider the fact that such a sudden influx of power could kill you? Did you stop to wonder how Toneri-kun would have felt if you had died up there? Did you consider how mother would have felt?"_

The questions keep on coming, an endless barrage of needle-sharp pricks that inexorably tear down her mental barriers.

Kaguya, on a level, accepts the fact that this could be an attack on her mind for nefarious purposes; the entity itself has already told her that her mind was subjected to a psychic assault and she, more than most people, understands that the best kinds of lies are those with a core of truth.

But in here, within this void like space she finds herself right now, stripped off all but her very identity and staring at this entity before her, she _knows._

She's looking at the part of herself that she never wanted to confront.

A melancholic look falls upon the entity's visage -her own visage- and the woman nods slowly. _"I see that you finally understand."_

A harsh look comes upon Kaguya's features. "I understand that my mind is under assault from something out there. I understand that my body is currently lying somewhere, possibly subject to torture. I understand that, for all I know, I could be stuck far down in my own subconscious and you're here to try to pull information from my mind."

Human nature is, inherently, stubborn. Should a person bury a thought, memory or a fragment of their own personality, their own mind does everything it can to _keep_ it buried. Not even the provision of solid evidence would keep the mind from denying such.

Kaguya, even though she understands this, is no more exempt than a lion is exempt from eating meat.

The entity doesn't reply immediately, choosing instead to stare intently at her. The gaze pierces her more thoroughly than any bladed weapon can but it only lasts for a moment before it is broken off. _"As I expected."_ The entity frowns sadly. _"You are too stubborn to face the root of our problems and in doing so you subject us to so much pain."_

"You don't know me!" Kaguya finds herself snarling in response, unwilling to accept the truth before her. "For all I know you're just a figment of my- of someone else's thoughts!"

The look of sadness on the entity's features begin to wear off, slowly but surely replaced by one of bitter anger bordering on outright hatred. _"I don't know you?_ _ **I**_ _don't know_ _ **you**_ _?! Have you ever stopped to wonder just why you weren't driven insane by the_ eons _**we**_ _spent trapped within the Shij_ _ū's mind? Have you never_ _ **once**_ _tried to understand just_ _ **why**_ _you recovered so swiftly from the aftereffects of the Shijū's possession of your mind? Of course you haven't! You know_ _ **nothing!**_ _You are so arrogant, self-centered and set in your ways that you never once accepted the questions that I asked you! You ran from them because you could never bear the guilt of accepting the catastrophe that_ _ **you**_ _brought about!"_

"Everything I did, I did for my brother!" Kaguya yells in response. "Toneri-kun was my everything and if you knew me **half** as well as you claim then you'd know that!"

The entity's response was a laugh of such biting scorn that it feels almost like a physical blow. _"Maybe in the beginning, I won't fault you for that, but it ceased to be about Toneri-kun the moment father rejected your idea! It became, in_ _ **your**_ _twisted arrogance, your petulant desire to prove yourself right!_ _After all, if you did it all for Toneri-kun then when did it become a desire to bring peace to the world? When did it become a desire to rule? Why didn't you just stop at saving Toneri-kun? Maybe we wouldn't be in this mess if you had!"_

"The Shijū already had my mind by then!"

" _Stop hiding behind that_ _ **thing's**_ _influence!"_ The memory of her childhood home shakes terribly the roar of her repressed self. _"Stop hiding and for the love of everything that we hold dear stop_ _ **lying to yourself!**_ _The Shijū was little more than a_ _ **child**_ _when it first entered our mind! You could have made it see reason! Barring that, you should have_ _ **fought**_ _it! You could have! But you did_ _ **nothing!**_ _"_ The shaking has grown in magnitude, now so powerful that cracks appear in the hallway and portions of the structure begin to fall away, leaving gaping holes that lead to the endless void. _"Have you ever wondered just how the Shinjū became the egotistical, possessive, vindictive, vengeful being that nearly destroyed our home and our world? I'll give you a hint: our mind was the first it ever encountered and_ _ **you**_ _were the one in control! Face the facts, Kaguya! More than the Shinjū and its influence, more than your_ _ **stupid**_ _belief that 'if father had listened none of this would have happened', more than_ _ **any**_ _of that,_ _ **you**_ _are the root of our problems! Your inability to accept your flaws and learn from them put us here!"_

By this point, the hallway was completely gone, replaced by the void and her repressed self is a gasping, wild-eyed mess.

None of that matters though.

For the first time ever, Kaguya's stubborn nature... Lays in shards.

The shaking has stopped and, as Kaguya comes to terms with all that has been shoved right into her face, her repressed self calms down as well and the hateful look she once had now returns to the sad visage she first bore.

" _You're just too stubborn, always thinking you know what's best. And you're doing it again."_

The void begins to spiral, twisting as though being forced down a drain and Kaguya can sense what is happening; she's waking up.

And her repressed self knows it.

" _Tch. I don't even have enough time to knock into your head just how much of an ass you've been to him."_

Kaguya doesn't have to ask to know the person being referred to.

" _He's had our back through_ _ **everything.**_ _He shouln't be helping us, shouldn't be supporting us but he is."_ With a bitter sigh, the split persona turns away from Kaguya, though not quickly enough to prevent the Princess from seeing the sheen of tears in her eyes nor is she composed enough to hide the flash of envy from stealing across her face as her skin begins to glow with hairline fractures. _"You have no idea how lucky you are._

" _I know he has his flaws; he doesn't seem conventionally intelligent, he's too goofy, he enjoys pranking way too much and his love for that congealed abomination and his utterly_ _ **atrocious**_ _manners when he's consuming it..."_ Both selves shudder at the thought. _"Look, he's not perfect but he has his own strengths. He has his own form of wisdom, he's loyal... He chose to follow your lead when you asked him to pose as your bodyguard so why can't you do the same now that he needs your trust? Things don't always work how we want them to but when friends ask for support we should give it to them."_

By this point, all Kaguya can see in the vast expanse of white light is the silhouette of her self and even that fades away until nothing remains...

‹‹‡››

Her eyes snap open even as her body lurches off the sandy floor of the desert. Her heart's beating a fast-paced staccato in her chest and her ears are filled with a ringing buzz.

As she calms down and returns to her senses, she realizes that the buzzing in her ears is actually the voice of a desperate-sounding Robin.

-ard! Come in Shard! Dammit please answer!"

Lifting a hand to her ear, she activates the receiver and acknowledges the boy's desperate cries.

-Shard! Oh thank God! I need you to move in a straight line south-east of your current location! Aqualad-

She doesn't wait to hear the rest before she gets her bearings and takes off.

Taking on a mission into the desert had been a great risk for the Atlantean.

And that was when the mission called for a quick nighttime reconnaissance.

Yet, even as she speeds over the dunes as fast as she can move in her current state, she can't quite get her mind off the last words her split persona had said before she fully regained consciousness:

" _And I_ _ **know**_ _you see him as more than just a friend..."_

‹‹‡››

 _ **Washington DC**_

"You're sure your old friend Nausea won't mind the slight alteration to the plan?"

"I see no reason for the Count to mind." Vandal shrugged as he refilled his glass. "While the original arrangement was for the Queen to be assassinated on foreign soil, the poisoning during her homecoming speech works out better in the long run: we get to keep tabs on her progress now that she's been moved to our Seattle facility and the blame can be pinned on the rebels back home thus reducing any suspicions of foul play on the Count's part. After all, very few in Vlatava could have afforded to put such a hefty bounty on the Queen's head and he certainly tops that chart."

"So, you got her out of the way, got a new pawn _and_ had Queenie throw a wrench in the passage of the UN's Justice League Charter." Klarion counted off. "Not bad for a day's work, especially since the first two could have been ruined by the interference of the 'Maelstrom'."

The last word uttered brought a dark scowl to the immortal's features. "He's proving to be quite the nuisance to our plans and the Brain is still incapable of calculating his peak capabilities."

"We'll figure something out."

For the several minutes after that, the two men stood in the silence, not a word uttered between them.

Neither man flinched at the 'thud' of a large object striking the ground behind them, both calmly sipping their wines like one of the deadliest men in the world wasn't standing fully armed just a scant few feet behind him.

"You took your time getting here, Manta." Savage commented as he watched the city lights far beneath his perch.

"There was no need for me to rush." The assassin shrugged casually. "My missions in Atlantis were all completed and in good time too. I took the extra hours to look into a few... Investments of mine."

"Business doing good?" Klarion asked with a knowing smile on his face which Black Manta returned tenfold.

"Business is doing excellently."

"As is to be expected." Savage added as he finally turned and rested his eyes on the object Black Manta just delivered. "Ah... Blood of the last _N'tobi..._ For all my planning, I must say that Caballine's find was most fortuitous for our plans."

"You know I still don't get just why the tech whiz's wife's discovery warranted such a tangential move, Vandie." Klarion groused as he drained the dregs of his wine. "I mean, it's just a bloody big starfish."

Resting a hand on the cylinder in an almost caring manner, a rumble of laughter bubbled up the immortal's throat. "I tend to forge that, for all your tremendous lifespan, you haven't always kept an eye on the Earth. You missed quite a lot of fun things, Klarion, chaotic things that would have set even your twisted heart jumping."

"Okay you sly old man, now even I'm interested." Manta said, crossing his hands over his chest. "Let's hear it."

A nostalgic smile stole across the scarred immortal's face as he closed his eyes. "The Nirvit, an ancient civilization that had created technological marvels in an age where the ancient Sumerians were just working on their languages, were vastly skilled in both the sciences and magics. They constantly sought to push the very boundaries of all that they knew until they could know no more of a subject.

"In time, they grew arrogant and sought to challenge powers that should simply have been left to be."

"They attacked the Fates!" Klarion cried in joyful wonder. "Oh boy do I remember hearing about that!"

Manta arched an eyebrow in disbelief. "Only 'hearing' about it?"

Klarion's response was a dismissive wave of the hand. "I was off sowing chaos somewhere else and I missed the assault. Nabu and his narcs were so pissed off that a bunch of humans got them that they wiped the whole civilization out and initiated the whole 'Helmet of Fate' thing to keep tabs on humans. Oh but Vandie you can't stop now! Keep the good stuff coming!"

With an amused grin of his own, Savage acquiesced. "While I won't tell you of the actual assault, I can tell you that they nearly brought the Lords of Order to their knees with two tools: the first was a powerful weapon called-"

"Nirvana." Manta supplied as certain details the immortal had spoken of in times past finally coalesced into a coherent image.

"Indeed. The second, however, was a magically-cultivated biological weapon whose base form was found in a creature they called _N'tobi._

"This liquid, when injected into a being's bloodstream, greatly increased their susceptibility to mental manipulation. Coupled with the effects of Nirvana..." The immortal laughed again. "Well, let's just say that the Lords of Order weren't quite ready when their proxies returned and tried to kill them."

Manta whistled softly. "Sounds like some pretty damned potent stuff. I'm guessing you've found the recipe for recreating that liquid?"

"I wouldn't be a good antiques collector if I didn't have some really old and forgotten items in my cache now would I?"

The dark-skinned mercenary smirked back at the immortal. "I suppose you wouldn't. Anyhow, I'll head out now. Investments don't tend to themselves very well. By the way," Manta flicked a small black cube toward the immortal, "the Kraken's all yours."

"Good."

With that word of dismissal, Manta walked away.

"You've been awfully quite all this while."

"I finally remember just where I'd encountered that chaotic energy I sensed around the children a few weeks ago." Klarion replied with a slow, cruel grin twisting his features. "Remember what I said I was doing when your favorite civilization challenged Nabu's twats?"

"Sowing discord and reaping chaos."

"Yeah well all that chaos multiplied in magnitudes when _he_ arrived."

The emphasis the Master of Chaos had put into that single word had piqued the immortal's interest. "Who?"

"Trigon, the general of Horvath's armies." Now it was the Master of Chaos' turn to throw his head back in nostalgia. "That four eyed freak was an absolute monster, pillaging worlds and annexing them for his father's kingdom... We had one hell of a time together... Well, after I'd convinced him that I wasn't an enemy and didn't give two shits about actually ruling the world's we conquered."

"So the energy you felt..."

"Definitely Trigon." Klarion confirmed readily. "He took over from old man Horvath when the old fool got complacent some millenniums back. I'd heard that he was having a few... Kiddy issues... A few years back..."

"And you think you can get him on our side?"

The Master of Chaos burst into laughter. "Oh Vandie! You crack me up sometimes." He gasped out between laughs. "Trigon is **not** someone you want to have on your side unless you're like me and care more about chaos. He's a conqueror, he thrives on pillaging worlds. Oh no, I don't _want_ him on your side; this whole 'Light' business is too much fun to ruin now.

"No, I'm gonna tell him exactly what he wants to know and get him to come here on his own. Then the League will be too occupied dealing with him and we can sow a few more seeds of discord. Plus, when he inevitably fails, he'd still owe me a favor for helping him out."

Savage didn't reply immediately, choosing instead to mull over the entity's words.

Once again he was reminded that though they were working together, each and every single member of the Light had a personal agenda of their own, agendas that could, in the future, set them against one another. It was quite the task to keep the scales balanced between them as it was and even his age wizened wisdom often found itself being tasked to the limits keeping things together.

As for the idea Klarion had just proposed... "Can you ensure that Trigon's attack will fail?"

The Master of Chaos just made a rudely dismissive sound. "Easily. Heck I won't even have to be there for him to fail."

"In that case, proceed with your plan. I'll run it by the rest of us at the next meeting."

‹‹‡››

And done.

This chapter is my way of not rehashing the episode while also sticking to the 'spirit' of the episode:

The first part of the chapter was the main focus of the chapter. As you might have noticed, Kaguya's repressed self isn't all about hate and anger; the RS is the embodiment of Kaguya's guilt and her fears, particularly those pertaining to her eating the fruit of the Shinju. The questions that would have led to a guilt ridden conscience and the subsequent guilt were all loaded up and dumped into a box of repression.

You'll also notice that there was no clear resolution to the confrontation. That was done on purpose: there's simply no way _years_ of repressed guilt and fears will be cleared up in a single moment. Nuh-uh. However, now that Kaguya is aware of her primary flaws, maybe she'll work on them? We'll see.

To those seeking conflict between the League and Naruto: it started a while back: Supes having issues with the presence of 'killers' on the team, in the last chapter we saw Naruto tackle Bats over the no killing issue and now we see Kaguya taking offense at Bats' controlling behavior.

Well, I think that's enough for now.

Please Read and Review.

The Ethereal Lord


	14. Chapter 14

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter**_ _ **14**_

 _ **Mount Justice**_

Seated on his bed in preparation for the two-man mission The Dark Knight had just briefed them about, Connor gazed at the crystal in his hand.

A long, thin pentagonal prism that tapered down to a point at its opposite end, the crystal bore a symbol that had, in the past decade, come to be synonymous with the word 'hope'.

It was a cheap crystal replica of Supergirl's access key to the famed Fortress of Solitude...

‹‹‡››

 **FLASHBACK**

" _Here, I'd like you to have this." Supergirl smiled as she presented the crystal to him. "I know it's not the original but I think you should have it anyway. It'll act as a reminder that you're never alone."_

 _Gently taking the object from the blonde, Connor turned it over in his hand until he noticed the symbol engraved into the flat head. A wave of shame swept over him as he was again reminded that while he bore the symbol, he couldn't claim to understand what it meant._

 _Somehow, the young woman beside him noticed his unease and, guessing that it had something to do with the little gift she'd just given him, she slung an arm around his shoulders and turned his head until he was watching the sunset. "I'm guessing you've heard of the Fortress of Solitude?" When he nodded his assent, she continued, "Well, while it's Superman's little hideaway, he gave me access to the Fortress a while back when it felt like the world was crushing me in. And while I know I can't grant you access there yet since it's not really my place, I feel like you deserve to bear the symbol of the House of El._

" _I know you still have a few issues with yourself, Connor, but I trust you. You weren't obligated to help Robin and the rest of your friends back at the Labs but you did because you have a good heart. You had no duty to upholding the character that the shield represents yet you did. And you're still doing it because you have a heart of gold. The symbol of the House of El has always ever stood for hope and you have continued to follow in that line by your own choice. You deserve it, Connor, and I'm happy to be related to you."_

 _The young teen had turned his head away from the blonde to hide the bittersweet tears that found their way past his eyelids. He knew that he had come a long way from the rage-filled, bitter teen that he had been when he'd first joined the team but hearing this from a woman that was, for all intents and purposes, an aunt, felt like a tremendous achievement to him. Yet..._

 _Again the blonde read him perfectly and was ready to support him: "Now I know that gaining Superman's acknowledgment probably means the world to you but my cousin,_ our _last living relative, is nothing if not incredibly stubborn. To be fair to him, I've had a few people say that stubbornness might just be a Kryptonian trait so you really shouldn't be surprised if a few people call you stubborn too." The two shared a laugh at that before she continued, "We once had a falling out because I took on a challenge that he felt was too much for me. He didn't say a word to me for months until I ended up pulling_ him _out of a tight spot and then_ he _realized that maybe I wasn't so fragile._

" _My point is that Superman tends to be too stubborn to accept certain things until they're literally shoved into his face." She put a hand to his cheek and turned his face until their eyes locked. "But I'm absolutely certain that he_ will _come around even if I have to drag him to it."_

 **FLASHBACK END**

‹‹‡››

The trust that Supergirl had put in him combined with his time with Naruto spent learning how to see himself as a human and the team's treatment of him as a regular teen, albeit an inhumanly strong and durable one, had given Connor such confidence that, for the first time since he'd opened his eyes within the Sumdac pod, he felt whole.

As it stood now, he wasn't living to earn Superman's acknowledgment anymore; now he just wanted to make his family proud of him.

If Superman ever came to be counted among that group then so be it.

"Connor?" M'gann's shy voice broke him from his thoughts and he turned to the girl that had, over the time, become more to him than the annoyance he'd first seen her as. "We're ready to go."

She'd already taken the guise of Tuppence Terror, one half of the fraternal twins that they would be taking the place of for their mission. His transformation would take place on the flight over to Louisiana.

"Let's go."

‹‹‡››

Kaldur stood at in the midst of three open holo-screens, Black Canary by his side, as he awaited word from the M'gann and Superboy in Louisiana. Having been briefed alongside Naruto and the two in question, he knew that they should have arrived at the warehouse about fifteen minutes ago via Zeta Tube, allowing room for Connor's wardrobe to be fitted on to the young man as well as for Superman and Martian Manhunter to finalize the capture of the Terror Twins and he so he was clearing communication channels and feeding the system some of Robin's encryption programs to keep the lines safe while awaiting a check-in from the two.

Right on cue, M'gann radioed in: -Miss Martian to Aqualad. Are you there Aqualad?-

The young Atlantean let out a sigh of relief that he hadn't realized he was holding in. "This is Aqualad."

-We arrived sixteen minutes ago and have encountered no deviations from the plan. Superboy just finished changing.- Even though they were thousands of miles away, Kaldur could have sworn that he had detected a faint hint of amusement over the comms. Too bad this was a live mission.

"Good to know. You'll be leaving soon?"

-As soon as I get what we need from Tuppence.-

"Alright then. I'll be standing by. Aqualad out."

-Miss Martian out.-

With that, the holo-screen tracking their conversation went still.

"So how well do you think they'll do?" Canary asked as she watched the young Atlantean confirm the strength of the multi-step connection linking him through the Watchtower to the Bioship.

"I believe my friends will do excellently." He replied. "M'gann is capable of adapting to situations as they come and Connor has become much calmer and is less likely to make impetuous moves. Supergirl's visit was most helpful with that."

"I'm glad to see that he's getting more and more confident." Canary smiled, thinking back to the angry and insecure teen the young Kryptonian was when they had first met. "Hopefully she can wear her cousin down as well."

However the conversation would have gone, it was stalled when Naruto walked over to them.

"They've begun?"

Kaldur nodded once. "You just missed M'gann's call."

The blond shinobi swore in his native language. "I wanted to talk to Connor before they began."

Guessing the reason for the blond's concern, Canary placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, from what M'gann said, he doesn't seem particularly bothered by the presence of Superman. Kaldur thinks it has something to do with Supergirl's visit."

As the heroine spoke, she could feel the muscles beneath his shoulders relax bit by bit until all the tension drained from him. 'For all his talk about being dedicated to Kaguya, he really does care about them.'

"Yeah... I can definitely see that happening." The shinobi sighed. "For someone whose self esteem issues stem from a desire to belong, having someone like Supergirl acknowledge him would definitely be a tremendous boost to his confidence."

"It certainly seems that way." Kaldur agreed.

"Well then, Kaldur, if you don't mind, I'd like to borrow our beautiful teacher for a few moments."

"Not a problem, my friend." The Atlantean nodded and turned his attention on to the holo-screen tracking the movement of the Bioship while the two blonds walked over to the unoccupied main computer hub.

It was one of the few times the hub was left unmanned, this time caused by Canary who had finally convinced the usual occupant to try mending his frayed relationship with his father.

"So, what was so important that you felt you had to slip in that little bit of flattery into your request just now?" Canary asked with a touch of amusement.

"Are you saying that you're not beautiful?" The shinobi was, of course, ready with a witty comeback.

"Hitting on your teacher is frowned on, young man, particularly when she's already spoken for."

The Uzumaki's features took on an appropriately somber and chastised look with his eyes cast toward the ground. "I'm sorry sensei, I'll remember to never compliment you again."

Canary just laughed and punched the younger man's shoulder lightly. "You are impossible."

"I know." Naruto replied, still sounding somber. "It's one of my more annoying traits, or so I'm told."

"I'm pretty sure you didn't call me here just to remind me what a smartass you are Blondie." She replied, her smile still very much on her face.

"Sorry," Naruto smiled back, finally breaking out of character, "but it's fun teasing you." Now that the fun was over, the shinobi turned to the computer and began punching in a series of commands even as his demeanor became more serious.

'I wonder what's come up? He's not in what I've come to dub _mission mode_ but he's definitely not joking anymore.' The heroine wondered as she watched him scroll through a list until he highlighted a program simply labeled 'accords'.

"I've been following the series of events following the proposal of the Justice League Charter and the subsequent negation of the passage of the charter." The blond stated as he ran the program. A few seconds later, six windows opened, all showing live feeds of the Rhelasian Peace Summit holding in Taipei. "Some of the leads I obtained pointed me toward a possible connection between the negation of the Charter and the ongoing Summit."

To be honest, Canary found herself wondering what kind of lead would have resulted in the direction he was currently pointed but she decided to say nothing yet, trusting that he was as stable as he'd promised following the attack on the Queen of Vlatava. Though he'd promised to unearth the perpatrators of the crime and bring them in, he had also assured her that it was not a vendetta on his part. He simply wanted to find the people that had nearly killed the young Queen.

She hoped it was so.

Just as the presenter launched into a spiel detailing the negation of the Charter ruling out the likelihood of a Leaguer being the arbitrator, an encrypted external call came in.

-Cyborg? Cyborg are you there? This is Red Arrow.-

Naruto and Canary glanced at each other before both nodded simultaneously as Canary joined him at the keyboard.

Red was **not** the kind of person to call in for a light chat. Something was up.

"Red Arrow, this is Maelstrom. You called?" Naruto took the call as Canary swiftly ran one of the programs Cyborg had shown her to backtrack the incoming call and ping its location.

A hologram of the Earth popped up and spun furiously.

-Yeah. I hope you know how to operate that hub bro 'cause I need intel. Stat.-

"What do you need?" Naruto asked as the hologram stopped and a red dot flashed intermittently.

The two blonds glanced at each other again.

Though the signal had been bounced through a number of satellites, the program had located an origin point.

Taipei.

-I need to know the exact height of a League of Assassins' agent, code-name _Cheshire_. Look through the Justice League database.-

Canary, knowing exactly how to obtain the information, took over from Naruto and swiftly pulled it up for the shinobi to read.

"One point six seven meters. That's five feet six inches."

-Thanks.-

"Mind telling me what's going on?"

-I'm at the Rhelasian Peace Summit. Informants had me believe that there could be a spot of trouble here.- The archer swore softly, though the two in the Mountain heard him clearly. -And judging by the fact that I've just spotted a possible match, I'm glad I followed my gut.-

"Need any help?"

-I should be fine on my own. No offense but I'd like to see if I really am good enough to go full on solo.-

"I respect that but you're sitting on a powder keg there." Naruto warned as he watched a scowl mar Canary's features.

-I understand that and the instant I so much as _think_ I'm in over my head I will yell as loudly as I can for backup.-

"We'll be by the Zeta tube then."

-Red Arrow out.-

"That idiot is so goddamned stubborn!" Canary exploded the moment the connection died. "He's sitting on a situation with so much potential backlash and he's trying to act all macho?!"

Naruto, recognizing that she was in full-on rant mode, chose to remain silent.

"For God's sake, _neither_ of the two Rhelasias supported the Charter! Thanks to the Bialyan Queen's efforts, they, along with almost every second and third world country believes that the League only cares for the US! And now he, Red bloody Arrow, one of the most famous sidekicks known to man and a protege of a certified Leaguer, wants to just-"

"Huh. So Lex Luthor's the arbitrator." Naruto interrupted as he took notice of the events at the Treaty. "Didn't see that one coming."

"-up at the Treaty and- wait what?" Canary cut herself off, sounding almost stupefied by what she had just heard.

Naruto just gestured toward the screens.

Just as one of the feeds caught the image of a very familiar assassin dropping out of a tree with a sniper rifle in her grip.

And then all hell broke loose.

Black Canary dropped her head into her hands, watching almost fearfully between her fingers, as Green Arrow's former protege broke cover to take down the assassin who was almost literally carving her way past the security.

The camera crews, ever hungry for the best shot, had zoomed in, thus capturing the ensuing scuffle as well as the arrest of the assassin.

Then, when the redheaded archer was apprehended by the leftover security forces, the heroine _moaned._

"There there." Naruto said consolingly, patting her on the shoulder for good measure. "At least he caught the assassin. Oh and look! Mister Luthor just vouched for him. Like that's not suspicious at all."

The last bit was stated with cutting sarcasm in a dry voice.

"This doesn't make any sense." The mortified look on Canary's face gave way to a confused frown as she absently began tapping a finger against the keyboard casing. "Why would the United Nations choose _Lex Luthor_ as the arbitrator for this kind of meeting? He's a businessman, he's never once shown interest in diplomatic roles or playing an active role in politics on home soil to say nothing of the international level."

"I'm just glad my informants were able to pick this up." Naruto muttered, his eyes still staring at the screens where the billionaire, having settled the security issue revolving around Red Arrow, now walked into the conference hall, Red Arrow and his own assistant at his flanks.

Canary's eyes narrowed at the shinobi's comment. "How _did_ they pick this up? I really don't see the UN simply leaking the name of their mystery arbitrator online..."

The Uzumaki shrugged, eyes still glued to the screens. "To be honest, I try not to get _too_ involved in the 'hows'. Some of these guys have had or even still have connections to the criminal underworld but are too small fry to bother apprehending. Keeping an eye on them grants me a few snippets like what I got today."

The entire statement was a carefully crafted mix of lies and truths. While he did keep tabs on his slowly expanding ring of spymasters, the reason he'd made _this_ connection was that Kennedy had overheard a discussion between Desmond and Terra about if the Taipei mission would require more resources. The head of Cadmus had dismissed Terra's suggestion that she be sent with Kennedy, stating that the security at the Summit was already tight enough.

It was why he was a bit suspicious of Red Arrow's presence at the Summit.

The shinobi continued his discussion with Canary by playing his source off as probably having heard of a possible League of Assassin's hit.

"It's how I came to know about the hit on Queen Perdita." He added.

Mollified by the offworlder's explanation, Canary's thoughts turned to other things. "That's just disturbing though. The Assassin's influence, I mean. How could they have known who the arbitrator would be?"

Naruto finally turned away from the screens as he shook his head. "You're looking at it wrongly. The Assassins typically only _take_ hits. If they'd set this up internally, we likely wouldn't have caught wind of this. No, someone likely _hired_ the Assassins which brings up a number of questions: who the hell are they? How did they know about Luthor being the arbitrator? Matter of fact, _did they_?"

The last question had the color draining from Canary's face.

Because if the Assassins' mystery sponsor _didn't_ know about Lex Luthor's role in the Summit, then the mission parameters were never about killing the arbitrator.

They were about disrupting the Summit itself...

‹‹‡››

 **HAPPY HARBOR**

'If there's anything we've gotten right as a species, then it's gotta be a tie between music and literature.' Raven breathed, feeling the tension that had knotted her shoulders all through the briefing in Mountain ebbing away as she curled snugly into her couch in Hailey's living room, reading through her novel of the day. Humming along as the strains of Hiroyuki Sawano's _Vogel im K_ _äf_ _ig_ played through her earplugs.

It had been a terrible couple of days for the young girl, so much so that everyone, from Canary and Naruto to Kaguya and even Connor had picked up on it. Her nightmares, bad as they usually were, had taken on a more disturbing turn; her father's visage had turned up each and every night, cursing her existence one moment, planting insidious thoughts that required all of her mental discipline to fight down the next and, worst of all, threatening to torture her teammates in the most horrific manner.

And, while none of that really took her by surprise anymore, it was the way he had delivered each threat; with a calm, quiet confidence that made her fear that he would escape the confinement she had wrought upon him.

'But he can't.' She thought, her mind secure in the certainty of her own memories. 'Even _he_ can't break the spells I cast to imprison him and I know none of my _siblings_ can either. If he could have he wouldn't resort to mind games; he'd just up and destroy everything.'

Assured by her own thoughts, Raven settled in to continue her reading when a gentle tap on her shoulder returned her to the physical world. Seeing Hailey standing beside her, the young magic user sat up and pulled the ear plugs out with one hand while pausing the song on her phone with the other. "Hey Mrs. Gonzalez. Do you need me for something?"

"Well dear, the young man I told you I'd like you to meet is around." The elderly woman winked conspiratorially and dropped her tone a few octaves for her next sentence. "Do be nice to him. He seems like he could be a good one."

Shaking her head in an over the top expression of painstaking endurance, Raven sighed. "I guess this one time wouldn't hurt."

A few seconds later, the two snorted in amusement at their own act and Hailey led the way into the main bookstore.

Raven would never be able to figure out how she'd missed it; the toll of the nightmares abrading her defenses, perhaps, or maybe she'd subconsciously come to see the bookstore as a haven of some sorts.

Either way, she had somehow ignored the warnings her internal radar had been blaring at her, going as far as to have missed her own mental defenses jumping into overdrive.

Either way, she did **not** miss the sudden screech of every ounce of self-preservation instinct in her being absolutely _rejecting_ the very existence of the person standing a few feet away, quietly perusing Hailey's shelves.

Every fiber of her _**being**_ screamed for her to get the hell out of the building and to do so **yesterday!**

When the person turned to her, a slight, smug grin on his face, she wished for a second that she'd done as her instincts had demanded.

‹‹‡››

 **BL** **ÜDHAVEN**

Stretched out languidly on the large windowsill of the warehouse Kakashi laid, calmly watching the workers at other storage facilities hustling about, constantly harried by the supervisors and managers.

'Life,' the silver-haired shinobi mused, 'you're either leading someone or being led. And even the leaders have leaders.'

It was a fact that every shinobi learned at a young age; your jōnin sensei, the ANBU captain, the Academy instructors... Every one answered to the Kage who, in turn, answered to the Daimyo. And, when one hit the topmost echelons of their society, they would come to realize that even the Daimyo's commands were often dictated by the desires of the financial dynasties that had invested in their rule...

"Yo One-Eye!"

'And now I've got to meet my _leader_.' The shinobi thought dryly. With a slight adjustment of his position, he sent himself rolling off his perch to come plummeting toward the ground. At the last second, though, he twisted himself and landed on the balls of his feet with only the barest of whispers telling of his little stunt.

"And the 'Gymnast of the Year' of the year award goes to..." The same, annoying voice that had called him down now echoed in the largely empty warehouse bearing a note of mockery.

Kakashi didn't seem even slightly fazed. "Gizmo. Did you call me down here to try on yet another ineffectual insult?"

Judging by the slight twitch in the lanky teen's left eye, the comment had hit its mark.

The shinobi just slouched against the wall behind him, sparing a single glance at Mammoth before seemingly closing his eyes. Even if, and it was a huge _if,_ Gizmo tried to attack him, Kakashi was certain that Mammoth wouldn't lift a finger to help. The huge, shaggy young man, for all that he looked more like Bigfoot than a twenty-something year old human, was quite level headed if he wasn't provoked, kinda like Jūgo. Plus, he had a huge crush on Jinx and would ever go against her commands.

Her last words to the Techie and the Tank were to 'not jeopardize the mission' and starting a fight could certainly break that rule.

Gizmo knew this as well as the shinobi did. Furthermore, he knew that he had no hope of taking out the shinobi without Mammoth's assistance.

So, teeth ground together tightly, the techie backed off the issue, pulling up a holographic map of the Earth from his wrist-mounted computer. "Jinx has sent our mission details and co-ordinates." The map zoomed in on North America, then zoomed further until a single location glowed red in the Belle Reve Parish. "With Icicle Junior already in position, our job is to be the pick up for the person Icy will be busting out."

The timing of the mission was definitely suspect. Thanks to a quick update from the Boss, Kakashi knew about the mission to infiltrate Belle Reve Penitentiary. As far as the Boss knew, though, Icicle's function was to help with an overall prison break; that the young cryokinetic boy had a second objective threw in a new angle entirely.

Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to fish for additional information before sending a message back, the shinobi asked about the inmate to be broken out.

"Zachary Crane; the Scarecrow." Gizmo replied immediately. "We are to deliver him to a set location in D.C by sundown tomorrow."

Mammoth whistled softly upon hearing that. "That's a hell of a distance; how are we going to get around fast enough?"

"Our benefactor dropped off a gift. It's in the back."

The reminder that he still hadn't cracked the issue of the team's mystery benefactor brought a tiny scowl to Kakashi's brow. It remained one of the two things he still hadn't sussed out yet; neither Mammoth, Icicle nor Stacey had a clue and both Jinx and Gizmo remained tight lipped about that. It was getting to the point where he was considering the use of a genjutsu to have them tell him.

"According to our benefactor, the ship was found shortly after the first world war, somewhere around modern day Poland. Designed to be years ahead of anything available as at that time, some rumors claim that it is, allegedly, Wonder Woman's 'invisible jet'." Gizmo informed them as they made it to the warehouse's rear end, the last statement uttered with complete scorn. "Like she needs an aircraft; the damned woman can fly faster than any of aircraft currently in production."

"It does sound very silly when you put it like that." Mammoth agreed. "So where's the ship?"

"Right..." With a smug grin, the techie pushed a button on his belt and a slickly designed, pitch-black aircraft simply appeared right before their eyes. "here. The ship may not belong to Wonder Woman but it is one hell of a wondrous work of art!"

Kakashi and Mammoth barely held in their groans at the terrible play on words while the tech-head continued.

"...upgraded to simply outclass any other aircraft the world's got. It's weapons' systems are amazing and the the cloaking tech on it renders it invisible to practically every sensor!"

Deciding that enough was enough, Kakashi surged ahead toward the open hatch of the craft. "Enough romancing the damned aircraft and let's go. We're on the clock here."

"Tch! Killjoy."

"Would you get in here?!" The shinobi prodded. "Also, what about Jinx and Stacey?"

"They've got their own mission." The techie groused as he swiftly moved to the cockpit and strapped himself in. "Remember the cute Asian chick you guys met at the Iceberg Lounge?"

It took less than a second for Kakashi to remember the person in question. "Miss Chan?"

"Yeah, Jade." A few switches were flicked and instruments hummed to life mere moments before a powerful, low but steady vibration ran through craft. "Whoo! This baby is awesome!"

"The girls?"

"Ah don't get your panties in a twist One Eye. Look, something came up and Jinx decided that they should go check it out. So they did. Satisfied?"

"For now." The shinobi found a seat and, after a few tries that led up to Mammoth showing him how, finally strapped himself in.

Whatever Nirvana was, it seemed Jade's search for it was proving to be interesting. Combined with this little mission... Well, the Boss would have quite a bit to process from his next message...

‹‹‡››

 **HAPPY HARBOR**

"I'll just leave the two of you to enjoy a nice chat." Hailey smiled as she walked out of the living room, pausing for an instant to wink again at Raven before walking back to the main store.

Raven's cordial smile died the instant the woman was out of sight and she instantly and silently cast a privacy spell upon the room. Beyond these, though, she showed no further reaction to the being standing a few feet away, the same smug smile he had borne since she had first laid eyes on him still twisting his roguishly good looking features.

"Take a seat?" She offered politely, her tone perfectly neutral as returned to her usual couch.

' _If you are ever caught by surprise, particularly by an enemy,_ _ **never**_ _give even the slightest hint that you were caught off guard unless it is a part of your plan...'_

Raven had never expected that Kaguya's advice to herself, Donna and Kaldur on what to do in diplomatic situations would come in handy but, as she stared into his eyes, she found herself giving thanks that she had paid attention to those lessons.

"Well, this is quite the cozy place." He smirked at her, an eyebrow arched mockingly. "I'd never have expected the Daughter of the Devil to dwell in such a... peaceful... environment."

"It's a living." She shrugged neutrally, doing her best to keep her emotions from showing. "Plus, the old lady's nice and she gives me lots of space."

"You don't seem very surprised to see me." The young man mused, dropping his jaw into his left hand while his right tapped absently on the cushion of his couch. "How come?"

' _If you can, try to draw up emotions in your enemy's mind. Pride is one easy way to achieve this; make it seem like something else caught you off guard to belittle their efforts and bruise their pride or find a way to stroke their ego and make their heads swell. Whether a bruised ego or an inflated one, pride always leads to a fall...'_

Raven knew all about pride.

The dark haired teen snorted dismissively. "You and your brothers tend to leave a stench wherever you've been, Belial. Not noticing would have surprised you much more." Step one; bruise the ego. "Though, to be honest, seeing you surprised me just a bit; you've always been quite the busy one." Step two; inflate the ego.

"First off, sis, I go by Jared when I'm on this here ball of dirt." The young man corrected primly, before continuing, "Second, you're right. I usually am the busy one among us three, after all, I am the most civilized of us. However when I got news of Daddy's little girl's whereabouts, well I certainly couldn't delegate that to the Bludgeon Brothers now could I?"

Once again, Raven had to force her body to remain calm. Whether he realized it, she couldn't tell, but Belial had just given her a bit of information in his last statement. 'Someone tipped them off about my whereabouts.'

That little tidbit of information changed things drastically. If it had been any one of Belial's two siblings or the eldest himself, she could have dealt with the intrigues on her own. However, the addition of a third party feeding them information meant that, somewhere out there, someone had something to gain from setting them on her trail...

Still maintaining the veneer of calm, Raven shrugged mildly. "True, Jake and Joe aren't quite interested in the arts of subtlety."

"No they are not. And so, I chose to check up on my source's intel... Well, here we are." The _thing_ that wrapped itself in human skin tried for a smile but it came off a little too smug to be genuine. "And I have to admit, you have changed, little sister, and not just physically either."

Raven simply arched an eyebrow questioningly, though she could feel a stirring in the air; a slight charge in the air that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing.

Something was about to happen.

Belial continued, seemingly oblivious to the slight tensing of her shoulders. "I mean it, really! You couldn't lie to save _yourself_ when dear ol' dad brought you home and you were barely any good at it by the time you'd trapped him in that slab of Azarath soil but now? Damn girl, if I didn't _know_ you were lying through your teeth when you started talking, I'd have been suckered! Your tonal inflection, your poker face... I really need to find out just who taught you all that and thank them for corrupting you so well!"

The little pin-pricks of warning from before gradually morphed with each word the entity said until, with a silent cry of rage, the young girl snapped.

Aware of the fact that she was still in Hailey's house, Raven stymied her initial desire to simply blast Belial away, opting instead to grab hold of his hand and, calling forth her power in a rush of emotion, teleporting them to a forested clearing on the edges of the Happy Harbor docks.

The instant they appeared, she lashed out with a blast of dark energies that sent Belial flying. Unwilling to let him rest for a second, she flew over to him and pinned him beneath a roiling flow of energy from her hand, her hair flying wildly in the swirling vortex such an unbridled release of her power commanded.

"Enough!" Her voice, normally calm and a bit of the soft side, had become deeper, darker and as demonic seeming as the rest of her appearance. "What are you doing here?!"

Instead of fear, or even a hint of anxiety, though, Belial simply laughed heartily. "Whoo! I have **got** to meet your new friends! This is a whole new you!"

Not even the increase in her energy output was enough to faze him as he continued.

"I mean, I didn't even have to threaten you with that sweet old lady's life to get you smoking pissed off! Damn, Jacob and Joseph will owe me a whole bunch for this!"

That was it; though she'd tried to keep a tight leash on her emotions, trying not to tap into the sheer destructive power her demonic heritage granted her, the mere thought that the demon pinned beneath her had even _thought_ to use a person she considered a friend against her was enough to bring down the gates.

With a roar of rage, her power exploded outward from her, her output nearly _tripling_ as she lunged at him, her hands curled into claws that sought to gouge his very eyes out, demonic energies crackling and spitting around her hands like an inferno.

Her initial assault went unblocked and each strike brought a dark, heady, satisfaction to her mind that she found herself enjoying. For every bit of flesh that she gouged out, a part of her gloried and for his every scream, she felt a twisted pride surging, empowering her yet seeking more.

It was a cycle she knew well, one that would lead to her own self-destruction.

And so, with tremendous effort, she pulled herself out of the dark waters, switching from her devastating melee strikes to ranged attacks that would grant her the freedom to return to a mental equilibrium without ceasing her attacks on Belial.

She was on the verge of regaining control when a powerful bolt of raw power struck her from behind.

With a savage scream of pain and fury her aura surged again and her clothes, a pair of black jeans, a dark purple top as well as a leather jacket the same color as her jeans, all unraveled. In a split-second, her nude form was concealed by the last gift her mother had given her; the one piece suit with the cape and hood attached.

In that instant, the Demon returned.

She'd barely flown a meter forward when she regained control of her tumble and spun around to track the new source of danger. Her eyes, now a pair of blazing crimson orbs, swiftly tracked the two newcomers; her half brothers, she noted with a sneer. Surging forward so quickly that the air around her screamed, she moved to their center and began unleashing a barrage of claw strikes and jabs that had the mortal bodies the two demons wore scampering in a bid to avoid damage.

They were not so lucky and as her fingers connected, gashes appeared in their wake, streaming blood profusely. Their screams of anguish rent the air and her grin grew wider as their pained expressions grew.

For the second time in about as many minutes, her assault was stopped by a blast of dark energy. Her rage grew and she dashed over to the source of the attack, her skin darkening to a maroon shade.

She never made it to Belial when another blast cut her off. Enraged, her cloak billowed out as she changed directions, moving to intercept the brother that had just attacked her.

Over and over, the attacks continued, spearing out at him from different angles, never allowing her rage-addled mind the chance to focus, never giving her rational mind a chance to establish control.

And, as her rage grew, the changes continued; the purple outline of energy an inch above her skin darkened till it was almost black, her aura grew continuously until the very air hummed with her power, stinger-like constructs of light-absorbing darkness stabbed out of her cloak in an uncontrolled fashion.

And then, with a roar that shook the Earth itself, a second pair of crimson eyes opened above her normal pair.

Reacting with practiced efficiency, the three brothers launched beams of their own into the ground beneath her feet. As the shockwave threw her into the air, they lashed out with controlled energy whips to bind her.

"Do **not** let go!" Belial roared at his siblings as they strained to hold on to the violently struggling girl. "We did **not** go through all this just to lose her again!"

"Too bad for you then."

That single second's loss of focus cost the brothers immensely.

In that second, Raven, sensing their loss of focus, outright overpowered their bonds in a surge of power, flooding the clearing with a stifling aura.

At the same time, three flashes of dull gray gleamed in the evening light before the brothers stumbled backward. Looking down, they found the round handles of gray knives lodged in their sternums. Attached to the handles were simple scraps with unintelligible squiggles on them.

"Katsu."

A powerful 'whump' rang out from the clearing as the demons' burnt and bloody bodies were flung back violently. Seconds later, the bodies aged rapidly until they dissolved into dust.

Raven's eyes darted around the clearing warily, the crimson orbs seeking the new presence out.

"Hey, Rae, I'm not going to hurt you." The voice seemed to be coming from a single spot a few meters to her right and her head turned to focus on the spot, her hands curling into claws again.

"Easy Rae... Easy..." The figure slowly walked out with his hands lifted palm facing her in the universal gesture for peace. It was Naruto, dressed as he had been when she'd left the Mount earlier that day, though the lower half of his face was concealed by his half mask.

She didn't trust that this wasn't a trap of some kind, though, and so she tentatively reached out with her esoteric senses to ascertain his identity.

For the second time since she'd left Azarath, she felt an all-encompassing peace that finally chased the intoxicating power of her demonic heritage away from her mind.

Without the tremendous boost, however, she felt so exhausted that she couldn't stand on her own anymore and simply collapsed. She would have struck the ground too if the blond shinobi hadn't moved to her side in a burst of speed and caught her.

"It's okay, Rae." He whispered to her as he gently rubbed her back, trying to calm the violently retching girl's heaves. "I'm here, Rae. Don't worry."

Tears sprang into her eyes as her body revolted against the dark energy that had coursed through her uncontrolled and they poured as she realized what all of this meant.

Trigon was coming.

‹‹‡››

 **UNKNOWN LOCATION**

"You don't seem particularly surprised at the failure of those three to acquire the girl." Savage stated calmly as the scrying circle the Lord of Chaos had summoned blanked out when Trigon's three children faded from the Earthly plane. "Considering how much you warned them to ensure that they caught her, I'd have expected a bit more... Pique from you."

The Witch-boy simply smirked as he set his familiar free to run around while he summoned a pair of glasses and a bottle of wine. "Now now, Vandie, I know you understand one of the basic tenets of rendering service in business is to make it seem like you're putting in more effort than you actually are to make the client think you deserve the hefty price you're asking for." Klarion replied as he filled the glasses. "I'm simply doing the same."

"You'll have to be a bit clearer."

"You see, Vandie, I never expected those three to pick the girl up, in fact, I _knew_ they'd fail. As much as using the girl is a possible way to get Trigon out, there's a way to do it that will be spectacularly chaotic and will keep the heroes off our back _and_ focused on Trigon. Plus, Trigon will be further indebted to me _and_ , as an added bonus, the whole thing will be a nice little test for your Secret Society's mage."

"And what exactly does this plan entail?"

"Let's just say it'll be a... _World splitter..._

‹‹‡››

And here's the next on the list, banged out way quicker than even I expected, to be honest.

The exact reason Raven reacted as she did during that little fight **WILL** be explained in the next chapter. Meanwhile, as regards her slow transformation as opposed to an instant switch to a demonic side, consider it that she's placed blocks on her own power because she really doesn't want to go about destroying shit. As such, for each level of control she loses, her appearance becomes more demonic.

First, her normal eyes go red, then the other changes as they are listed until the final two appear: the dark stingers from beneath her cloak and her second eyes opening. At this point, she's in full demon mode and becomes a conduit for Trigon's power.

Now, to address a few things [i'll specify reviewer names if the issues aren't general topics]:

Madara F'inUchiha- I'm kinda sorry the story seems to be delving into the characters more than the plot. It's mostly cause I tend to focus on character development to a great degree. I'll do my best to push the plot onward from now on.

The Amazo Issue: I stand by what I did there. That bloody android has stolen everything, from biological abilities like Martian Manhunter's phasing to Energy based abilities like Captain Atom's to enhanced abilities like Flash's speed [enhanced because it is granted to him via Speed Force]. Having seen all these, including the fact that it copied superman's strength which is based on solar radiation, the I fully believe that the Android could have, possibly, copied Naruto's chakra-based abilities.

So, that's it for now.

PS: Go get Baron Corbin's entrance theme, 'End of Days'. That's gonna be Trigon's theme as we go on.

Please Read and Review.

The Ethereal Lord.


	15. Chapter 15

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter**_ _ **15**_

 _ **Naruto**_ _ **'s POV**_

"Woah! Easy there, Naruto, take it easy."

Kaguya's voice sounds to my ears like it's coming from a tremendous distance even though I can feel her body pressed into my side, holding me up so I can stagger over to a couch.

It has been thirty minutes since I brought Raven over to our Happy Harbor apartment and it feels like it has been the longest half-hour of my life; never before have I felt so incredibly drained, not even after some of the closest calls my team and I had when we were running about dodging Madara.

By the gods, is _this_ how Granny, big sis Shizune and Sakura feel after pulling off some of their more intense medical ops? Fuck! I wish I could go back in time or something because I _need_ to kiss their feet or something! Medics are amazingly resilient!

"Naruto!"

Kaguya's sharp call snaps me back and, though the edges of reality still seem blurred, the first thing I notice is the glass of water hovering right in front of me. All of a sudden, I realize just how parched my throat feels and I lunge forward to get a drink. I can feel the front of my shirt getting wetter as the water sloshes past the edges of the glass to add moisture to my sweat drenched shirt.

"What happened to you?" I can hear the concern in her voice as she pulls the -now empty- glass away from my mouth and dries my mouth with a towel.

She's changed over the past couple of days, not so much that she seems like a totally different person but the changes are there. She's become a less pushy about things, more accommodating of opinions that aren't hers...

"Naruto! Stay with me dammit!"

"I'm here! I'm here!" Like I said, not a one-eighty. "Sorry, my head's spinning and thoughts are rambling- woah!"

I feel a yank on my feet and then, abruptly, my head sinks into something soft. Huh. This actually feels a lot more comfy.

"There. You should be feeling more comfortable." Her figure rises up in my peripheral vision until she's looming over me. It takes a moment for me to realize that she must have adjusted me so that I'm lying on the couch and she's standing by my side. "Now, how are you feeling?"

"Drained." I admit readily. "Gods, I only ran diagnostics on her! How the hell does Granny do it?!"

My vision seems to be clearing up and I notice her eyes narrow a bit before returning to normal.

"You used a medical technique?" When I nod, she does so as well, like she expected my reply. "It's no surprise you're feeling drained then; from what you explained to me, those medical techniques require chakra control leagues beyond what you should be capable of. Holding back the bulk of your reserves so you could utilize the pin-point precision required to even run those diagnostics... The sheer mental effort you must have put into doing that is mind boggling, Naruto."

Huh. So that's why I'm feeling drained. "Ah hell. You need to find a book or something and learn that shit; I'm not sure if I want to pull an encore."

Something flashes in her eyes but it's gone before I can comment on it. "I'll do what I can. How is she?"

"Rae?" I struggle to sit up and when I do, even with Kaguya's help, I feel exhausted all over again. "She's burnt out. Her body isn't used to channeling such huge amounts of dark energy so, when it all faded away, she crashed."

"Wait, dark energy? Like bijū chakra?"

"No, bijū chakra is, for all intents and purposes, just pure energy." I reply, recalling some of the more technical discussions Kirabi and I had during our time together. "The effects of its use are determined by the intents of the user. That's why when jinchūriki utilize it after gaining control over it, they don't suffer the negative effects like the chakra burns and all the other things untrained hosts suffer." Having regained some more energy, I sit up and reach for the jug on the stool beside me. After getting some more water, I continue; "The energy Raven was pouring out felt... vile. Evil. The closest I can even _think_ of was Orochimaru's killing intent back when I was a genin and even that pales horrendously to what I felt in that clearing."

It's no lie; not even her aura when she was in full-on Avatar of the Shinjū mode could compare to that snaky bastard's in terms of just how _wrong_ it felt. Both hers and Madara's were auras of overwhelming power and the Gedo statue's was one of piss-your-pants fear.

It takes a while for Kaguya to come to terms with what I've just described and I spend that time emptying the jug of its contents.

"So you're basically telling me that Raven tapped into a power that is... Evil..." She says, coming to terms with what I've just explained. "And that she's now feeling the aftereffects of doing that?"

I nod. "As at the time I stepped in, she seemed to have reached a crescendo; she was pouring off a stable amount of energy."

"How much?"

"Just a fraction beneath Yugito's when _she_ goes full-on Matatabi."

Kaguya whistles softly. "That is a lot of power..." I can understand where she's coming from; essentially two-tails' worth of power. Not too many people can say they've ever harnessed that much, even on this world. "The question is, what did those three want with her?"

"Whatever they wanted, they'd crafted one hell of a plan to get it." Recalling some of the things I noticed at the clearing, I drop the glass and focus on her. "They had a barrier of some sort around the entire coastal area. It dampened their energy signatures so much that without the locator seal I placed on her, I'd never have found them in time. Plus, I believe they _wanted_ Raven to tap into that power to her absolute limit."

Kaguya blinks upon hearing that. The look of bemusement doesn't last long, though, before she recovers. "What did you see?"

"I saw three beings that, while less powerful than Raven individually, were more powerful as a unit and had greater control over the same power that drove Raven beyond her mental limits fighting what seemed like a losing battle until she reached her peak and then suddenly turn the fight around in _seconds_. I watched them struggle to hold her down and I heard them all but _admit_ that they wanted her spitting mad."

"They wanted to use me to open a gateway."

‹‹‡››

 **SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST**

"Hmm... This should be a good location."Klarion mused as he stroked his familiar. "A crossroad, a ley line intersection, secluded location... What do you say"

The striped cat in his hands purred contentedly and jumped out of his hands before stalking off.

A satisfied smirk grew on the Witch-Boy's face as he pulled out an dully glowing amber crystal from his coat. "I expected you to like it. Now..."

Walking forward a few paces, the young-looking entity hunched and placed the crystal in the crystal in the center of the magic circle that had soundlessly engraved itself into the ground as he walked. Taking a step outside the circle, he clapped his hands together.

"Now, to call in the candidates...

"Wotan... Blackbriar Thorn... Felix Faust... Wizard..."

As he spoke, four men appeared, one after the other until four of the five points were occupied.

"Well then," Wizard stated in an aristocratic tone. "Shall we begin?"

"This circle utilizes a pentagram base, charlatan." Felix Faust replied, sounding very bored. "There are only four of us here."

"But-"

"The fact that our host has not taken up the final spot should be sufficient to tell you that we are incomplete." Wotan cut the British magician off.

"Well, I'm glad that at least three of my co-workers are competent." A female voice echoed around them, eliciting a small smirk from the Lord of Chaos. Suddenly, the winds picked up speed and a miniature cyclone erupted over the final point.

"Lady Circe." Wotan, Felix Faust and Blackbriar Thorn inclined their heads politely at the new comer, a startlingly beautiful woman with pale skin and dark violet hair clothed in highly expensive garments that would have been perfect in ancient Greece.

Wizard simply scoffed. "A flashy entrance does not make one a-"

Whatever else he was about to say was cut off when, with a dismissive gesture from the woman he was about to insult, he was transformed into a pig.

"Puts a new spin on the term 'chauvinistic pig." Blackbriar chuckled. "Though, from our host's initial actions, I'd say we need him, Lady."

"It's the only reason I haven't fed him to my pets." Circe said, her scarlet eyes skewering the squealing animal more thoroughly than a metal pike. "I suppose he has been disciplined enough, though."

With another dismissive gesture, the sorcerer was returned, quailing, to his physical form.

"Now... Let's begin..."

As the others began their chant, Klarion set up two barriers; the first, a magical barrier that would protect the magic users within the circle from interference and the second, much larger one, to warn him of the heroes inevitable arrival.

It wouldn't do to have them disrupt the fun too quickly after all...

‹‹‡››

 **HAPPY HARBOR**

‹‹↓››

 _The Tale of Arella_

"Fifteen years ago, a young woman, going through a really trying time, confided in her best friend and asked for help. The friend, tried her best to console the young woman and, in the spirit of helping, suggested that they both attend a meeting held by a group on their campus.

"The girls enjoyed the first meeting and, over time, both became regulars. The young woman, the focus of this story, became more than just a regular, though, and the group meetings began to fill the void she felt she had inside.

"She was accepted into the group's inner circle and realized that the inner circle were into the occult and they wanted her to join them. Though she tried to resist them, the temptation was too much for her and she succumbed.

"By the time she graduated, she was fully immersed in the world of the occult and when the opportunity to summon an entity from beyond came, she gladly volunteered herself to be the requisite sacrifice.

"When the entity appeared, in the form of an attractive man seeking a bride in exchange for desires granted, the young woman felt honored to have been chosen."

"It was an honor that she would come to regret."

"During the period of a courtship, she was blinded to the entity's dark actions by her devotion to her commune and her own lust and on the chosen day, she willfully laid in bed with him.

"As they consummated their bond, however, the scales on her eyes fell as she felt his evil roiling deep within her and at dawn, she ran."

"She was, however, but a human and as she ran she watched every door slam in her face, ever path she took lead into his presence. Her fellow occultists, in the throes of pleasures they desired, were subtly killed and the few she could have turned to rejected her as though she were cursed.

"Such was her lot in life, it seemed until the day she discovered that she was with child; the child of the devil..."

‹‹↑››

"The woman you just described..." Naruto said softly, taking Raven's hand as he peered intently into her eyes. "She's..."

"My mom." Raven replied tiredly, tears flowing out of her eyes from the pain of recalling her mother's story. "She... She loved me but I could always tell that she hated herself for her mistakes."

"That's why you reacted the way you did." Kaguya said with a slight frown, her comment drawing looks of confusion from the other two. "The Poison Ivy mission. During the debrief with the team, I noticed your slight flinch when Kaldur brought up the 'chaos' issue."

Recalling the moment, Raven nodded shakily. "I think it referred to me. I mean, I don't really understand the whole thing but I was afraid that it had to do with my... paternal lineage."

"About that." Naruto interrupted. "You've hinted at _his_ demonic nature but who is he? Your..." The blond trailed off, looking for a way around the elephant in the room.

"It's okay, you can say it." Raven exhaled, again sounding exhausted. "The thing that is my father is a millenia old being that thrives on conquest and domination of worlds. In his realm, his kingdom stretches over countless worlds and he's never shown any intention of stopping."

Having an idea the kind of being he was, it did not take either offworlder a minute to figure out what was coming.

"Earth is his next target. And he sent those three to get you." Kaguya stated factually before another frown marred her features. "But why does he need you? Why not simply show up at our front door?"

"I was able to devise a means of imprisoning him during my time with him." The young girl replied with a sad smile. "It took me close to a year of being forced to live in his realm but I was able to trap him within a crystal, the last magical relic of the world my mother hid me on, before I... Before it was destroyed. "

Both offworlders were impressed by what they had just heard.

"Raven that was... I don't think brave's a right enough term for that." Naruto said, trying to get the girl's spirits back up.

"It wasn't bravery." She replied, her entire body radiating shame, guilt and self-reproach. "It was the least I could do." Her words were broken again as her body was wracked with silent sobs. "After all, _I_ destroyed Azarath."

Naruto and Kaguya exchanged a glance upon hearing such self-condemning words but they opted to remain quiet when the young girl began to speak.

" _I call upon Azarath the Great, the Defender of the land,_

" _Upon Metrion, the Mother, who brings peace unto all_

" _And upon Zinthos, the One, embodiment of All_

" _If you deem me just and hear my call,_

" _Then return me to the land where peace once flowed."_

Recognizing the chant for what it was and guessing at her intentions, both offworlders braced themselves for whatever came next.

They need not have bothered themselves; the effect of her spell took hold instantaneously.

One moment, they were within their own home; the next, they were standing within the ruins of what might once have been a beautiful place. All around them laid the evidence of the great destruction that had swept through Azarath, taking lives and ravaging the environment without care.

"Whatever caused this all but irrevocably destroyed the natural balance." Naruto said in a tight, shuddering voice as he let the tiny bit of natural energy he had absorbed flow out of his body. He had seen destruction on grand levels before; Madara's meteor strike was one and the Jūbi's catastrophic technique that warped nature was another. Heck, even his Planetary Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken was capable of great destruction. Yet never before had he even _heard_ of destruction so total that _nature_ was nearly destroyed as well. "It'll... It will take _eons_ before this chunk of rock ceases to be anything _but_ a barren chunk of rock."

"I... I didn't know..."

"Hey!" Kaguya chided softly as she pulled the younger girl into a hug. "Hey, take it easy, okay? I know the guilt is tearing you up inside, twisting things and making you believe-"

"It will _never_ be okay!" Raven yelled angrily, pushing herself away from the Princess. " _I_ summoned Trigon here; _I_ disobeyed _everything_ my mom told me, every warning she gave me, _I_ disobeyed!" With each word, the anger inside her turned to grief and by the end she was in tears again. "I did this..."

Gently, the former Avatar of the Jūbi cupped the younger girl's cheeks and turned her face till their eyes met, violet eyes staring into violet; grief and self-condemnation teeming from both eyes. "Believe me, Raven, I know what you're going through." The white haired princess said softly. "I know what it is like to have taken steps that ultimately brought a world of hurt upon innocent people and I know what it is like to feel that guilt everyday.

"I know it seems endless and the pain feels impossible to run from but you can live in that pain, Raven. It will tear into you until there is nothing left inside."

Something in the offworlder's eyes seemed to connect with the magic user, perhaps it was the conviction she could see staring right at her. "So what do I do? I can't..."

"You can live for them." Kaguya answered gently. "You can live according to the morals of these people and you can fight to ensure that this never happens to any other people. Whatever your decision is, though, let it be one that honors these people."

For a moment, all was still and nothing existed but the two, both having experienced similar troubles, one counseling the other.

Then, the moment passed.

"Rae, can you take us back?" Naruto grunted, his voice sounding strained as he nestled his head between his hands. "We need to get back. Something terribly wrong just happened."

‹‹‡››

 **THE WATCHTOWER**

 _ **Moments Before...**_

"This makes no sense."

"You're right, Diana, it doesn't make any sense at all." Batman said as he reviewed the video the Martian Manhunter had recorded from the BioShip during Superboy and Miss Martian's extraction. "Not if you're looking at it conventionally."

"What doesn't make sense conventionally?" The Flash asked as he walked up to them, arms laden with a bunch of snacks.

"Following the extraction of Superboy and Miss Martian from Belle Reve Penitentiary, Martian Manhunter chose to stay behind to watch over the recapture of the inmates just in case any assistance would be required." The Dark Knight answered as he played back the footage. "From what he observed, and what I've just confirmed, the inmates seemed all too willing to return to their cells with their collars reactivated."

That brought a frown the the Flash's face. "You're right. That _doesn't_ make any sense... Unless the whole point of the riot was _never_ about getting out."

"Exactly." The Dark Knight nodded and pulled up a few files. "During the 'riot' a number of prison officials were knocked unconscious, maimed and outright killed. One of those knocked unconscious was Amanda Waller."

"The Director of ARGUS?" The Speedster seemed a bit baffled. "The heck was she doing at Belle Reve?"

"As it turns out, she was the warden of Belle Reve _before_ she was promoted to the rank of Director." Wonder Woman replied. "During a recent overview, she was given the directive to give up either of her positions; naturally, she chose to wash her hands off the Penitentiary."

"O...kay, so what was she doing there today?"

"Handing over." Batman answered as he pulled up another profile. "Originally to a woman named Candice Shrieve but a last minute change to Hugo Strange, a well known psychologist and one of Waller's assets. She chose him to be the new head because, officially, he could try out methods of rehabilitating the inmates."

"Right... And _un_ officially?"

"He can provide candidates suitable for her needs." The Dark Knight answered. "Whichever it is, though, the fact remains that Waller was handing over today and the inmates rioted just enough to cause a few issues but not enough to actually escape."

"Except three inmates." Wonder Woman continued. "Tuppence and Tommy Terror and Zachary Crane."

"Crane, Crane, Crane..." The Flash tapped his fingers on the snacks as he tried to pin a face to the name. "Where have I heard that name from again?"

"You likely know him as 'Scarecrow'." The Dark Knight answered with a dark scowl. "Strange reported only minutes ago that the three escaped moments after the riot began, making it seem as though they had planned it out."

"So our guys and one of yours." The Flash breathed. "It just had to be the Scarecrow. Any idea how he got out?"

"I do." Wonder Woman replied, drawing a look from the speedster. "Someone flew him out with my old invisible jet."

He couldn't help it; he burst out laughing.

"Sure, the lady that can fly faster than sound has an invisible jet..." He trailed off as he noticed the Batman stare and the Amazon's smirk. "Holy... You _actually_ **have** one?"

"I do."

"The heck do you need it for?!" He cried animatedly. "You can _fly!_ Faster than _sound_ _ **at the very least!**_ "

"Alien contact isn't restricted to this day and age alone, you know." She smiled nostalgically. "The Javelin was an engagement gift from one such alien who felt he could woo me. Suffice it to say that I'm still single today."

"Someone... Tried to woo you... With an invisible jet." The Flash carefully drew out each part of his statement to be sure that he hadn't missed a point. When she nodded, he threw his free hand up in exasperation. "What the heck?! And how did you manage to lose that?"

The nostalgia on her face was replaced by a look of sadness. "An old friend of mine... Sometime during the First World War... He sacrificed himself to stop the release of a powerful neurotoxin from being released."

"Oh..." There was no need to ask for further clarification.

"Regardless, thanks to the advanced sensors in the BioShip, we were able to identify the Javelin and track its motion and time as it left." The Dark Knight continued brusquely. "The time of departure falls within the optimum escape window I've calculated judging by the last time Crane was spotted on the security cameras."

The Flash seemed stunned. "So, judging by the available evidence, someone set up the whole prison riot _just_ to get Crane out?"

"It certainly seems-"

-Recognized: Black Canary- -

"We've got a problem." The blonde heroine stated as she swiftly walked up to the trio. "The Team just disappeared."

‹‹‡››

 **HAPPY HARBOR**

 _ **Now...**_

The instant they reappeared in Naruto's apartment, Raven clutched her head in both hands, grimacing at the overwhelming feeling of _wrongness_ that pervaded her senses. Beside her, Naruto groaned and collapsed in a heap, his eyes flickering between their usual sapphire and the dusty, yellow-orange of Sage Mode.

"Raven! Naruto!" Kaguya swiftly cleared out a large enough space at the center of the living room and adjusted the two so that they laid spread out on the carpeted floor. "What's going on you two, talk to me!" She spoke urgently, modulating her voice to relay the urgency but none of her fear.

"Someone's using powerful magic." Raven gasped out. "It feels..."

"Wrong." Naruto managed to complete the younger girl's sentence. His willpower was being tested to the extreme as he tried to section off a portion of his mind to deal with the mental assault he was under by what he identified as Nature screaming for him to 'fix it'. It didn't matter that he had no idea what was going on and would be unable to if the voices didn't quiet down. "Something just happened and it has Nature itself running scared."

The statement had Kaguya flabbergasted. She knew of her companion's skill as a Sage, knew that due to his habit of tapping into the power of Nature as a means of relaxation he had developed a connection to this world that was there regardless of whether or not he was actively immersed in its power and so she knew just how disturbing his words were. Something, _magic_ , if Raven was correct, capable of such most certainly spelled trouble for the world.

Deciding that Naruto and Raven could, at least temporarily survive without her watching, she raced into his bedroom where they had been before Raven had woken up earlier and snatched up her phone. By the time she returned to their side, she was listening to the dial tone of Kaldur's cell.

"Princess, I-."

"Kaldur!" She interrupted brusquely. "I have Raven and Naruto writhing in pain from something that has their senses thrown into disarray! What's going on?!"

"Forgive me, Princess, but I currently cannot tell you exactly what is going on." The Atlantean replied, sounding just as frazzled as she did. "Connor, M'gann and myself were just about to head out after our debrief with Canary when she disappeared right before our eyes. We are still trying to figure it out."

"Sorry to tap into your call like this," Dick apologized, "But I think I might have an idea what's going on. You two should put the call on speaker for this next bit."

Neither Kaguya nor Kaldur bothered with questions. "Done."

"Good. Now, from what I've observed and from the posts appearing on social media right now, I believe all the adults in the world just disappeared."

"What?!"

"You heard me. I've tried to contact a few adults that I know and there has been no response. Also, there has been a number of car crashes all around me. I'm trying to grab plate-numbers to draw up owner information. That might help me make a more accurate statement."

"That'll take too much long." Kaguya frowned, her mind going a mile per second as she tried to think up quick work around. "Robin, can you pick up radio signals from your location?"

"I've got the equipment for that available, yeah?"

"Good. See if you can pick up any Emergency Services chatter."

"Got it."

The idea she'd provided was a good one; in a world without adults, it was unlikely that the bulk of the ESU had magically survived such a purge. As such, monitoring their communications would give a clearer indication of whether Dick's analysis was accurate.

"In the mean time, Kaldur, I need you to contact any members of the team that aren't at the Mountain." Kaguya continued. "If Dick's search pans out,yourself, Artemis and M'gann will be needed at as many locations as possible. Children around the world will need reassurance and so seeing the 'sidekicks' they have so often heard about standing up to the task will be a great boost."

"What about me?" Connor finally spoke up, having been content to listen until that point. "You talked about M'gann and Kaldur leaving to help."

"You will be leaving as soon as possible, Connor." Kaguya affirmed. "However, I'll need you, Robin and Donna to shoot a televised message to reassure the children. With videos of Kaldur, Artemis and the rest of us doing whatever we can, combined with your tele-cast, we may be able to mollify many of the children."

"But... Why me?"

Kaguya understood exactly where the young Kryptonian was coming from. Even with all his leaps in confidence and self-assurance, issues of self-esteem and self-worth were difficult to deal with and had the nasty habit of cropping up at terrible points.

She understood him perfectly and knew exactly what to say to him. "The symbol you bear on your chest has come to stand for hope, Connor. People will watch the tele-cast and see, not three young adults, but three symbols that have become a fundamental part of the Justice League. They will see the 'Super' in you, Connor, just as they will see the 'Wonder' in Donna and the 'Bat' in Robin. So, Connor... You."

It was the perfect thing to say.

Unfortunately, Dick had some news for them.

"I got in and the situation is almost exactly as I said; the adults are gone."

"You said 'almost' just now." M'gann pointed out before either Kaguya or Kaldur could. "What's new?"

"Well, I'm still hoping to get confirmation but, from what I heard, it seems as though every pregnant woman just disappeared as well."

To M'gann and her romantic interest, that didn't seem so out of place, all things considered.

While Kaguya first figured it out as quickly as Kaldur had, the Atlantean spoke up first. "The women _and their children,_ I presume?"

"Yeah." Even over the phone, Kaguya could hear the frown in Dick's tone. "It makes no sense; the women are adults but the unborn children are just that: kids!"

"We cannot focus on things we can't answer." Kaguya cut in decisively. "I'll keep an eye on Naruto and Raven and the instant we are able, we'll work outward from Happy Harbor. The rest of you, do as we've agreed."

"Got it." The others replied as one.

With the call concluded, Kaguya locked the screen and turned round to her charges. Raven, it seemed had gotten control of her senses and was able to sit up, her cloak covering most of her body and Naruto wasn't jerking around as badly as before. With a decision to check up on Raven first, the white-haired princess walked over and crouched beside the younger girl. "How are you feeling?"

"Ugh... My head's still sore from that overload," Was the groaned reply, "but I'm pretty sure I can head out and be useful."

"I can too..." Naruto slurred as he sat up as well. His hand shot up to rest on his forehead, covering his eyes in position of exhaustion but in that instant, Kaguya's ever observant eyes caught the slight twitch of his lower left eyelid.

"No you cannot." She stated decisively as she helped Raven up. "Your words are still slurred and I can practically count each individual heartbeat from how much your temples are pulsing." 'To say nothing of the mental strain you're still trying to contain.' She added to herself. "You cannot go out as you are; you'd be a liability."

"But I..."

"Naruto." She called softly, leaving a now steady Raven to head for the front door while she dropped to her knees before him. "Naruto, I can tell how badly you want to go out there right now, I really can." The edges of her eyes crinkled just the slightest bit as she smiled at him. "But right now, I- the whole team needs you to recover. In fact, if what I'm thinking is right then the whole world needs you to recover, and to recover _fast_."

The last part of the sentence caught him off guard. "Whuh- What're you tall... Talkin' 'bout?"

The way he slurred his words was of definite concern to the princess, though she forced that down to continue projecting an aura of calm to him. He'd need it, considering what she was about to tell him.

"I don't think this entire thing is an isolated event. Between what happened a few hours ago and this... Well, I think this might be a play on Trigon's part at getting out of his prison."

"Try... Tri... Raven's dad?" He finally drawled. "He could be... be doing all this?"

"It's not outside the realm of possibility." She replied with a shrug. "But if that _is_ what all this is about then we really need you back in top shape."

It took a moment but then the determination she was used to seeing in the blond's eyes returned, sharpening his formerly unfocused gaze. "Goh... Gots eat..."

Well, first step, determination, right? All else could come after regaining determination.

And she had given him just that.

"I'll see you later, Naruto."

And with that, she stood upright and marched out the door to join Raven.

Not before she left a pair of clones, though.

She would let no harm befall him.

‹‹‡››

 **MOUNT JUSTICE**

 _ **An hour later...**_

Having done as much as they could for the children of Happy Harbor as they could, Raven, Kaguya and a significantly better looking Naruto walked into the large open space leading up to the computer hub, anxious to hear more from their teammates regarding their situation.

While the other two seemed perfectly okay, the blond shinobi was still feeling the taxing mental struggle he had just experienced in order to cordon off the voices of Nature from the rest of his mind. As such, by the time they arrived, the rest of the team had already assembled and were already deep in conversation.

"How are things?" Kaguya spoke, forgoing any greetings in light of the situation, as they joined the others, drawing their attention.

"We're holding up well, all things considered. Between the tele-cast you advised and our physical presence in as many cities as we could reach, Dick reports that we've been able to prevent an outburst of hysteria." Kaldur reported. "We were just debating whether or not to run a second one on our progress."

"I wouldn't advise that." Naruto warned. "We have no idea just what we're facing, neither do we know the cause. Running a second tele-cast could be detrimental to us in the long run."

"Thank you." Artemis threw her hands up triumphantly.

"Dick, how far have you gotten with tracking measures?" Kaguya asked the young protege who hadn't shifted focus from the monitors. "Any luck?"

"Nada. No conventional means of tracking has panned out and most of the _un_ conventional methods I do know aren't providing answers."

"Most?" Raven asked pointedly, shifting uncomfortably as she guessed where the conversation was headed.

"There is _one_ way..."

"When I went to Atlantis to speak to my friends there, both Tula and Garth told me that they were experiencing mild cases of nausea that they only felt when they were in the presence of particularly foul magic." Kaldur explained. "I am uncertain how many other trainees may have felt it but, considering what Kaguya told me, we have come to the conclusion that you may be able to track the source of this... situation... Using magical means."

The shudder that coursed through her body was not missed by either offworlder, neither was the look of terror that marred her face for a split second.

Raven was absolutely terrified of the idea.

"I'm not sure you understand what you want me to do." She said slowly, her voice cracking. "The kind of magic that would do this has to be tremendously powerful, in this case, so powerful that even _Atlanteans_ are feeling the effects. And you want me to track it down until I have a location for it?! Have you even considered the possibility that this could all be a ruse to get me to open up to such powers that could overload my own human desires and leave only my father's daughter behind?! You want to risk my **HUMANITY?!** "

The fear-induced hysteria was so great that by the time she was done, she was out of breath from all the screaming.

The Mountain was silent.

Leaning forward slightly, Naruto whispered into Kaguya's ear, prompting a nod from the white-haired princess before pulling the now silently sobbing Raven close and walking out with her.

After walking for over five minutes, accompanied by a silence that was broken only by a sob or a sniffle, Raven pulled away from the shinobi. "I'm fine."

He stopped walking and turned to her, saying not a single word.

"I said I'm fine, Naruto." She glared at him. "What else do you want to hear?"

The shinobi didn't reply, not immediately. First, he sat on the ground, right there in the hallway he crossed his legs and sat Indian-style. Then, he gestured to the floor opposite himself. "Join me?"

The girl couldn't help the scoff that jumped out of her mouth or the sarcastic comment that followed. "You want me to sit right here in the hallway?"

"Humor me."

A part of her sneered at the very thought of listening to him, that part that her father had tried to cultivate... The prideful part...

Yet, she found her body obeying him, sitting across from him with a bit of space between their knees.

Nothing transpired between the two for a moment.

Then, she felt it... That aura of peace that she'd experienced on the cliff so long ago and in the clearing mere hours before that had given her the strength to fight back her demonic powers... Nature's peace...

His eyelids slowly gained a reddish orange hue and, when he opened his eyes, his pupils were simple horizontal bars in a saffron sea.

Yet, she could see that it wasn't easy for him to tap into nature's power, not with how _wrong_ everything felt. His left eyelid twitched sporadically and the muscles in his jaw clenched tightly.

"Don't worry about me, Raven, I'll be fine." She couldn't understand it; how could he be smiling in spite of the obvious discomfort he was in? "Now, you're still with me right?"

"Do I look like I'm going somewhere?"

"Just wanted to be sure." He replied before releasing a deep breath. "Can I ask you something?"

"You're my shrink; can you?"

Though she likely hadn't meant it, the younger girl's words had carried a bite to them that might have offended another person. To the shinobi, though, he could see what she was doing; hiding herself behind a wall of thorns to send him running. He understood, though, and so he simply pressed on. "What are you really afraid of?"

"Really?" Raven couldn't help the sneer that crept unto her face, "You're asking me that less than eight hours after you watched me go ballistic? Well, gee, I don't know; maybe I'm afraid of spiders. Or rats? Or _maybe, just maybe,_ I'm afraid of the kind of power that wipes my own identity away until I'm just a mass of dark energy waiting to be pointed in the direction of my target!"

For a few seconds, the only thing to be heard in the corridor was the echo of her shout until Naruto spoke again: "Is that really what you're afraid of?"

"Yes, Naruto, I'm pretty damned sure _that's_ what I'm afraid of."

"Can I ask you for a small favor?"

"Fire away."

Letting his eyes drift shut, Raven found herself envious of the look of utter serenity that descended upon him and, if he wasn't sitting right in front of her, she would have sworn that he had disappeared.

"Alright then, I need you to close your eyes."

With a sigh, Raven straightened her back and did as he asked.

"Now focus on the moment just before you tapped into your darker half... Ignore everything else at that point and focus on just that..."

Ensconced by the calming aura he projected, Raven did as he asked; focusing on the memory until it filled her mental faculties. Interestingly, all of the fear she expected to feel was completely absent.

"Are you there? Can you feel anything now?"

She... She could. She could feel her anger, her simmering rage at Belial for even _insinuating_ that he had Hailey's life in his hands... Her fear that if she tapped into her demonic heritage...

"I'd be more like him..." Her eyes opened of their own volition as the realization set in. In every instance that she had been forced to utilize the power her paternal lineage granted her, since she'd learned of his true nature, she had always been afraid that she would become the very thing that she despised... She had just never noticed the fear...

"I've been in your shoes, Raven, having access to a power that is intoxicating to use yet fearing what I'd become every time I tapped into it," He explained soothingly as she wrapped her head around her discovery. "One of my teachers told me that without understanding the true root of our fears we can't overcome them. So, Raven, do you understand?"

She wanted to say yes, to say that she understood yet, when she stopped to think it over... "I _know_ the root of the problem but I can't say that I _understand_ it."

The shinobi smiled encouragingly at her. "That's alright, Rae; understanding rarely comes so swiftly. And the truth is that those fears? They are justifiable. The kind of power you and I have access to, while not the same, are incredibly potent. When we tap into them it feels like we can do anything... Like we can bring the world to its knees..."

"And that scares the hell out of you... Me..." Raven completed his statement quietly, earning a nod from him.

"What you need, Rae, is an anchor; something or someone to keep you grounded, a mental lighthouse whose light you can always see and count on when it seems like you're losing yourself..."

"Who am I supposed to look to?"She asked tiredly. "My mom's dead, I don't even want to refer to _him_ as my father... Azarath's gone... I'm alone."

Reaching out gently, he placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing her downcast eyes to his. "No matter what, regardless of the situation, Raven, you'll _never_ be alone. If no one else seems to care then know that I will."

She didn't know how long she spent there, in the little pocket of peace he provided, staring into his eyes, searching for falsehood... She never attempted to find out.

It didn't matter.

Because, by the time the two walked back to join the rest of the team, she had a location for them.

‹‹‡››

 **SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST**

Lounging on a magic circle high above the chanting sorcerers, a certain entity found himself utterly bored. "Ugh! You'd think that with the world being split in half and all that the heroes would hurry the hell up!" Klarion grumbled to his familiar as he stroked the cat's fur. "I mean come on! It must have been hours already!"

"You really shouldn't be so impatient, Klarion. It's unbecoming of one of your stature."

"One of my _stature_ shouldn't have to be waiting around for some pesky brats!" The Witch-Boy sniped back. "Besides astral lady, shouldn't you be down there keeping the spell up?"

Circe's astral projection laughed. "I think we both know that the spell is a few moments away from being self-sustaining, Klarion. Besides, I'm not like those other plebs who can't walk and chew gum simultaneously."

The Lord of Chaos glared at the projection for a moment before the facade cracked, the grin on his face matching the prideful smirk on hers. "Yeah... They're good, sure but you've always been one of the best. So, how goes your little side project?"

"That? Oh it's doing wonderfully. I really should thank Vandal for providing an avenue for me to test drive it."

"I'll send him your best-" The Witch-boy paused as he felt something brush his sensory barrier... and from both planes too. "Heh, looks like the guests are arriving. Hey Teekl, wanna have some fun?"

The feline familiar cocked its head and gazed at its master, meowing inquisitively.

"Oh, I'm just thinking of giving them a... Nice little welcome gift..."

‹‹‡››

"Superboy, do you hear that?" Naruto's softly asked question startled the team, forcing them all to halt their movements and glance at him. It was odd for the shinobi to speak out of turn on missions and in this case, he'd specifically cautioned against any form of communication at all.

"Maelstrom?" Aqualad voiced the confusion everyone else felt yet the shinobi didn't answer, opting instead to just ask the question again.

Still confused, the Kryptonian clone decided that the blond wouldn't break his own command without good reason and so he stopped moving and focused his senses... "Nothing. Maelstrom, I don't hear anything."

A light frown touched the shinobi's forehead, though no one saw it. "Exactly. No howling winds, no shifting sands, not even the crunch of the sand as we walked over it... Stealth parameters are off, guys. They know we're here."

Not even two seconds after he had uttered those words, he dived into Artemis, tackling her roughly to the ground jut in time for the crashing figures to feel the displacement of the air as something split the air at about her belly-level. "Shard!" He barked the moment they were below the impact zone, twisting and rolling to ensure that the archer sustained minimal damage.

The princess, having already anticipated his need the instant she'd felt him move, flared her byakugan to life, wincing in pain as she tried to ignore the blinding nexus about two hundred meters ahead. "Everyone form up! Circle facing outward, now!"

The rest of the team, shaken out of their initial bemusement by the shinobi's actions, acted instantly; moving as fast as they could to surround Maelstrom and Artemis who joined them on the perimeter as soon as they could.

"What do you see?" The shinobi shouted across to the princess who was swift to deliver an answer.

"I'm not too certain what they are; humanoid, torsos only, lower body seems to have melded with the sand. Huge arm-like projections. I'm looking at them in absolute black."

Maelstrom's frown deepened. Absolute black was the Hyūga code for 'lacking any visible chakra or known energy sources'. If these things appeared as absolute black to one with her eyes and were nigh-invisible to their senses... They were probably in a bit of trouble.

"Hmph, you brats might actually be worth a bit of my time," an obnoxious voice huffed from above, drawing their attention to the young-looking figure standing on a glowing circle, arms akimbo. "Well, since some of you can tell that, I suppose there's no real reason for me to keep my toys hidden anymore." The shinobi's eyes caught the figure's smirk and felt his instincts blaring warnings to him. "Fetch."

"Scatter!" He yelled, grabbing Artemis again and blasting forward with a chakra-boosted leap. Less than a second later, the earth heaved and a gout of sand surged upward from where they had just been. Taking a glance around to confirm that everyone was okay, he then focused his attention on their now-visible foes.

Shard's description had been spot on; seven-foot tall obsidian torsos, headless, with spiked armor and arms of almost equal length as the bodies. The most interesting thing, however, was the fact that their torsos seemingly sprang up from the sand at their feet, though their colors were all wrong.

'Five of them plus their creator, chance of more if we destroy one... Ten of us but the objective is to get the worlds back together...' The thoughts flew through his minds and he arrived at a conclusion before the sand settled.

Without a word, he left Artemis and charged at the creature closest to Miss Martian, launching himself over the sand in a blur of motion. When he was within range of its arms, he sent a pulse of chakra to his feet, sending him flying upward to vault over the creature's swinging arms. 'It's faster than I expected,' he thought as he fell, fingers flying through handseals as he descended. 'We'll have to stick to this plan.' "Katon: Rasen Endan!" The technique he shot out, instead of the simple ball or gout like most basic fire techniques, was elongated into a bullet-like shape and rotated on a horizontal axis, granting it greater penetration power.

Not pausing, the shinobi landed and spun toward the Martian. "Link us up. Now!" He hissed quietly, the roar of the flame dulling out the whispered words even further.

To her credit, the girl didn't argue, she simply obeyed.

" _Miss Martian."_ Aqualad asked as he felt the connection click into place. _"Maelstrom said-"_

" _I told her to do this."_ Maelstrom cut in brusquely. _"Raven, Aqualad, Kid Flash and Shard, head over to the nexus and stop whatever they're doing there. The rest of you, keep the golems busy; the one I attacked was fast enough to react to my speed so keep your distance and_ _ **only**_ _go in if you have a clear shot."_

" _Keep in mind that they seem capable of regenerating from damage."_ Shard added as she noticed the gradual closing up of the hole Maelstrom's earlier attack had dealt on the golem. _"I recommend separating them from the sand before dealing any attacks if possible."_

" _What about Klarion?"_ Robin asked as he moved over to cover Artemis who had nocked an arrow and was tracking one of the golems. _"He's a powerful sorcerer, powerful enough to go up against Doctor Fate. Won't he just keep spawning more problems for us?"_

" _Raven, look at those golems; are they self-sustaining or reliant on Klarion's energy?"_

" _I'd say self-sustaining; it is impractical to have them leeching off your own reserves if you can have them maintain their own form, doing otherwise would be overconfidence in the extreme."_

" _Alright then; Robin, I'll keep him busy."_ The shinobi growled as he locked eyes with the smirking figure high above them. _"Superboy, Troia, two of you are our heavy hitters; the others will work on creating openings for you- take them out with extreme prejudice. Are we clear?"_

The rest of the team voiced their assent as they dealt with the closest golems around them, doing their best to create distance between themselves and the automatons.

" _Then let's go!"_

Not even a second after voicing his command did Naruto shoot forward, fingers flying through another sequence of handseals as he raced toward the golem closest to Raven, drawing its attention. With reflexes honed from years of combat, he dashed onto the golem's arm and kicked off it to gain altitude. Now airborne, he twisted about and launched a powerful stream of lightning from his hands toward the levitating Witch-Boy who simply arched an eyebrow.

"Best you got?" The Lord of Chaos inquired as he casually deflected the stream at the now departing party headed by Raven.

Without a word, Maelstrom performed a mid-air shunshin, appearing between the two and redirecting the attack into a golem on the ground before landing. "I'm your opponent, brat."

As he had expected, the Witch-Boy's eyelid twitched at the comment. "I am _not_ a **brat**!"

Maelstrom simply arched an eyebrow, blatantly mocking the entity.

"I AM **NOT** A _**BRAT!**_ " The Witch-Boy screamed as his fists became engulfed in dark red flames and he swooped down on the shinobi, intent on taking his head.

Meanwhile, seeing that Raven's group had taken the opening Maelstrom had provided, Robin assumed command in his absence, using the knowledge gained from Maelstrom and Shard to direct the rest of the team.

' _Miss Em, we need you to stay back; play long ranged support and the instant we get a chance, you'll have to uproot these things and hold 'em off. Superboy, Troia, you two will have to be the bait; get in close, slam them hard and then get out. Artemis, you and I will be the support, prep your freeze arrows because we're going to need a bunch of them to keep these things immobilized 'til Maelstrom finishes things off with Klarion.'_

' _Easier said-'_ Superboy grunted as he intercepted a fist flying toward Artemis who swiftly loosed a trio of explosive arrows into the exposed shoulder joint. _'than done!'_

'

‹‹‡››

'If Shard is right and this guy's final play is to summon Trigon then I can't afford to go guns blazing just yet.'

Hunched forward with his arms trailing behind him, Maelstrom raced ahead of the dark magic blasts that the Witch-Boy sent hurtling toward him, his mind constantly working to gauge his opponent. Following his initial taunt, the shinobi had purposely allowed himself to be put on the back foot to provide a greater window for Raven's team to head over to the nexus. By his estimates, they should have covered at least a fifty meter distance, not too much but it was a decent start for them. He had already determined that his opponent was a very emotional one who would fly off the handle at the slightest provocation and had created a plan of action to take full advantage of that.

Pulling to an abrupt halt, he channeled a burst of chakra to his feet and blasted up toward the enraged Witch-Boy, ready to fire off another technique at him; having spent the past few moments determining his reaction time, Maelstrom had little doubt that the magic user would be forced to either block or dodge this one.

"Katon: Hōsenka!" Rather than going for a focused, beam-like attack, the shinobi went with a scatter shot, forcing the magic user to swing around the attacks. Dodging the multiple projectiles didn't take too long but Maelstrom knew that due to the placing of those shots, Klarion would have to lose sight of him for a second or two and so, the instant he landed, he created a clone that instantly bent the wind into a light-dispersing shell and disappeared.

Preparations finally set, the shinobi went on the attack, calling forth his chakra to bend the elements around them, constantly keeping Klarion on the back foot, though he never struck a decisive blow.

" _Until Raven returns, I have to keep him alive, possibly even conscious; we can't take the risk of taking him out now only to realize that we need him to undo this whole thing."_

It was a dangerously thin line to walk; acting like he wanted to inflict as much damage as possible whereas the actual plan is to keep the enemy occupied... It was a difficult thing to do and that fact was highlighted when, in a burst of incensed rage, the Witch-Boy violently repelled the elemental attacks headed his way. Then, with greater speed than he had displayed since the beginning of the fight, Klarion summoned a forbidding cloud of roiling dark energies.

"Let's see you call me a brat after this!" He snarled as he unleashed a hail of his own lightning strikes from above, hellbent on destroying the black-clad shinobi. "Die! Die, die, die, **die!** "

"Tch, you really are a brat."

The Witch-Boy's were just beginning to widen when he felt a tremendous force slam into his back, sending him hurtling toward the ground only to be intercepted by another hit before he could hit the ground. Over and over the pattern repeated itself, never giving the Lord of Chaos a moment to focus until, finally, he was blasted into the sands courtesy of a bone-crunching ax kick to the back.

Then, the shinobi landed beside the boneless heap and slapped a pre-made Warden Tag onto the Witch-Boy's back to cut him off any external power sources and to immobilize him.

"I'll keep an eye on him." His clone stated as it appeared beside him. "The team's handling the golems well; you should check up on Raven."

The shinobi nodded then jerked his head in the direction of the rest of the team. "If they need anything..."

The clone never got the chance to recover as, at that moment, a powerful surge of power washed over them, triggering a sharp feeling of nausea in the real Maelstrom while destabilizing the clone and forcing it to dispel.

Reality itself seemed to wail at that moment as the separated worlds began to merge back into a single plane and, all around the world, things shifted back to the state they were before the split; crushed cars billowed out and reformed, fires were put out as shattered bricks returned to the walls they once constituted and various forms of aircraft that had crashed when their pilots had simply vanished were put together seamlessly.

The greatest change, however, was felt by the rare few who had connections to nature; Maelstrom, Poison Ivy, the Floronic Man, Swamp Thing and others like them.

The screams of agony had been replaced by cries of joy as mothers were reunited with their offspring.

Nature sang and as it did, it strengthened those connected to it.

"... feel that?!" Artemis' shout was the first thing the shinobi heard as the nausea passed and his senses returned to him. Taking a quick glance around, he noticed that the golems were gone and the rest of the team were headed toward him. Klarion was still sprawled on the ground in front of him. The main thing that caught his eye, though, was the large, ring-like structure that had just popped up at about the same location Raven's team had gone. Whatever it was, it had his instincts screaming for him to destroy it and, when he reached out with his senses, he recoiled visibly.

That thing _reeked_ of the same energy Raven had tapped into earlier and it registered to him as being _dormant_.

If his suspicion was even on the path to being correct then he couldn't risk having it come online.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the maddening laugh of the Witch-boy.

"Surprised? Well that's a shame, you seemed so level-headed and calm when we fought that I thought _nothing_ could faze you."

The sarcasm in that mocking voice set his teeth on edge as a horrible scenario dawned on him.

"You realize it now, don't you?" Klarion continued, driving the spike in deeper. "You and your little band of heroes were so focused on the world of adults and the world of children... Guess none of the ladies on your side had a baby bump huh?"

"What is he talking about?" Donna asked as the rest of the team joined Maelstrom.

The shinobi couldn't hear them, though, he could barely hear anything.

' _Three_ worlds, not _two_ ; one for adults, one for children and _one for the pregnant mothers...'_

"Guess you didn't expect a bunch of supervillains to have hearts did ya?" The Witch-Boy laughed again, long and hard as he watched the shinobi tighten his fists in impotent rage. "Heartless heroes, thoughtful villains... Ha! Irony at its- Whoops!" The Lord of Chaos grinned as he teleported up above the gathered heroes heads, his familiar appearing in his arms a mere moment later. "Ya missed, ya sore loser! Did you think that little slip of paper would hold me down? You're an even _bigger_ idiot than I thought! And now... Well I do think ol' Trigon's gonna be happy on this little ball of dirt."

With his final piece said, the Witch-Boy disappeared.

Sparing a moment to create a clone that would relay his intentions to the rest of the team, he took off, going as fast as he could without enhancing himself with nature or bijū chakra.

In the distance, a bolt of dark purple energy shot into the sky.

‹‹‡››

Done.

For those that queried my 'addition of random characters' and 'merging the animated movies with the YJ series', I think this proves that I have mapped out a decent plot for my actions.

Anyhow, Rae's portion as the star of the show comes to an end in a chapter or two (almost certainly the next chapter at this point).

AND! Before I get blasted by a fuck-ton of hate mail, let me explain a little tidbit to those who skim without really reading: NARUTO had ZERO problems dealing with Klarion. For all intents and purposes, he curb-stomped the gender confused (are ye a _witch_ or a _boy?!_ Make up yer damned mind lad!) twat!

The reasons it took him so long to do so, though were listed in the fic but I'll spell them out here:

1- Following his initial taunt, the shinobi had purposely allowed himself to be put on the back foot to provide a greater window for Raven's team to head over to the nexus.

2- 'If Shard is right and this guy's final play is to summon Trigon then I can't afford to go guns blazing just yet.'

3- _"Until Raven returns, I have to keep him alive, possibly even conscious; we can't take the risk of taking him out now only to realize that we need him to undo this whole thing."_

That good enough for you?

To my more understanding readers, I wish I didn't have to put that up but I really just want to cut off any hate, 'you fucking nerfed him again!' mail right now.

Read and Review Please.

The Ethereal Lord.

PS: Holy... Two years?! It's been two _years_ since I started this?!


	16. Chapter 16

_**A New Life**_

 _ **Chapter**_ _ **16**_

The moment he kicked off the ground, Maelstrom activated the _Heart Link_ seal he had inscribed on his upper left shoulder. While he had a few more of the same seals inscribed at various portions of his body, the one he had just activated connected his mind to Shard's so they could communicate at the speed of thought.

The decision was more than worth it as, less than a second later, he felt his partner yell for his attention.

' _I'm here, Kaguya, talk to me.'_

" _You need to get over here now!"_ The white haired princess sounded desperate. _"Things have gone downhill in the worst way possible!"_

' _Run me through it.'_

" _We were played. I think they created three worlds, not two, and were able to set an ambush for us on the third world. When Raven yanked the anchor gem out of the ground, the reset took hold and, out of nowhere a huge structure appeared. Some mercenaries opened fire and, in the ensuing chaos, much faster than either we or the adults could respond, two... Apparitions just flew down and possessed Wonder Woman and the Flash. A third tried for Superman but Batman stabbed him with a green crystal of some kind and the apparition chose to take Batman instead."_

Maelstrom's jaw tightened as he flew over sand dunes. More than just verbal communication, the _Shinkakaru,_ as it was called in his native tongue, allowed him to see his partners thoughts; he was basically watching all that had transpired from her point of view as she spoke. _'What else?'_

" _The Flash happened. He took out the rest of us faster than we could blink while Wonder Woman assaulted Superman. They were at it for a while until she struck him down."_

' _She killed him?!'_ That was a cause for alarm; Superman was, the Earth's major power house. With Trigon on the verge of showing up, they'd need his strength. If he had been taken out by a possessed Wonder Woman...

" _No, she simply beat him down. I believe he is just unconscious. He seemed a lot weaker than he typically appears, though."_

Maelstrom breathed a sigh of relief. _'And the other one?'_

" _The possessed Batman forced Raven to activate the ring else he'd have the Flash kill us one after the other beginning with Canary."_

Maelstrom sighed in frustration. While he would admit that the hostage card was a good one to play, doing so must have been the cause of the flash of purple light he had observed moments prior. _'Damn it. Who else is there and in what state are you?'_

" _Kid Flash, Canary, Green Arrow and a new person. He utilizes magic. Besides my broken arm and Wally's twisted ankle, we're all fine."_ She replied. _"The bone in my arm's already set, just the ruptured muscles causing problems. However the Flash is standing guard over us and with both Superman and Wally down, we're currently pinned."_

' _How about the other two?'_

" _They're standing guard around Raven, likely to ensure that the activation is done right and to prevent interruptions."_

' _Alright. I'll be with you in a moment.'_

With that said, the shinobi cut off the link and, with a thought, called forth the second form of the bijū cloak.

Less than a second later, he had covered the rest of the distance and, like a guided missile, he streaked toward the Scarlet Speedster.

"Katon: Hōsenka!"

In as much as he had no intention of ever going up against the members of the Justice League due to their good works, the shinobi had seen the effects of genjutsu and certain mind-altering poisons and techniques, powers that could turn even the most righteous of men into vile beasts, and he had accepted the fact that such scenarios were not impossible. Now, as he neared the possessed metahuman, his precautions kicked in and he called up his mental database of the speedy hero.

Maelstrom knew that, though the Speedster could likely cover longer distances faster than he could, up close he had the advantage so the first thing he had to do was to close the distance.

As such, he was using the large spread of the Phoenix Fireballs to distract his opponent so he could move in.

The plan worked; the possessed Flash had been so busy dodging the fireballs raining from the sky that he never noticed the flashes of golden light until it was too late.

Now within bodily striking distance, Maelstrom began his attack, delivering a series of precise punches, kicks and jabs in a specific pattern. Knowing how fast the Speedster was, the shinobi had no doubt that he was analyzing the pattern to find the beginning and the end of the cycle and so, it was no surprise when the possessed metahuman struck out in an attempt to clock him in the jaw.

The attempt never connected and the returning right straight to the jaw, followed by twin body shots to the floating ribs and a palm thrust to the abdomen left the hero reeling, opening him up for the shinobi's _coup de grace,_ a vicious stomp to the Speedster's left leg that snapped the bones like they were twigs.

The shinobi's slit pupils narrowed as he watched the Scarlet Speedster scream in agony; the pain filled cry taking on a ghostly wail as a dark, shadowy creature burst out of the hero's mouth before dissipating like mist beneath a sunny sky.

"Maelstrom!" Canary's yell drew his attention and he turned to the blonde heroine just as she ran up to him while her hooded partner and an unknown person, most likely the stranger Shard had spoken of, warily approached the Flash's groaning figure. "Are you okay?"

Serious as the situation was, the shinobi couldn't help but arch an eyebrow at the question as he eyed their disheveled appearance. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question, Canary?"

"Probably, it's just, you just took on the Flash and it all happened so fast..."

Understanding where the woman was coming from, the shinobi shook his head. "I'm perfectly alright, Canary. I was able to deal with him quite easily, likely as a result of the possession." He lied, choosing to downplay the fact that he had just defeated the Fastest Man alive without taking a single hit.

"The apparition probably hadn't integrated whatever skills it learned from the Flash fast enough to do significant damage to him." Shard added as she walked up to them, her left arm bound from wrist to mid forearm in the strips of clothes she had torn off the injured arm while her right arm supported Kid Flash's as she dragged the unconscious youth with her. Seeing the look of concern on their faces after laying him down, she lifted both hands and wiggled all her fingers. "I'm fine. Combination of a rough landing with a slight loss of concentration caused it; the bone's set and the muscles will heal soon enough."

"That is good because we have a much greater problem to deal with." The heavily accented voice of the unknown figure stated as he walked up to them while supporting the Flash with the Green Arrow's help.

"You really did a number on him, kiddo." The Archer added as they gently placed the Speedster on the sand.

"It was necessary; I believe causing significant damage to the host forces the apparitions to leave their bodies." The shinobi shrugged before turning to the stranger. "You said there was trouble Mister..."

"Zatara." The formally dressed man replied with a slight inclination of the head. "As regards the trouble, well, now that the young lady within the ring has activated this rift-gate, we cannot stop the events that will proceed from this point."

"Trigon's coming." Maelstrom stated, earning a nod from Zatara before turning to Shard and Canary. "What about Aqualad, Cyborg and Shazam? Where are they?"

"They set out after the human elements of this ambush." Shard replied.

"They may not have gone far so they'll likely head back as soon as they can." Canary added.

The shinobi's eyes narrowed again as he took in the people he had with him, injured and otherwise. "Zatara, how long do we have before the rift-gate fully opens? Cause I'm guessing that based on your words just then, we literally can't stop its activation."

"You are right my friend; once the gate is activated, all that is left is for it to open up. The young lady's presence there is simply speeding up an already concluded action. At best, I'd say we have fifteen minutes."

"Alright then; the rest of our team should be here within that time, giving us more options. In the mean time, Canary, I need you and your partner to go up against Batman. All you need to do is to deal sufficient damage until the apparition leaves him. I'll take on Wonder Woman while Shard and Master Zatara watch over the wounded. I'm uncertain why Superman's been weakened but-"

"It's the kryptonite." The Kryptonian groaned as he sat up, bringing his bloody fist up to show them the green crystal. "Arrow, do you mind..."

"Got it." The Emerald Archer nodded and took the crystal away, stashing it in a special pouch hidden beneath his quiver with a deft sleight of hand trick. "Can you get up?"

"It's night time." The man in blue groaned, drawing baffled looks from the rest until he coughed out a few pained chuckles. "I'll be fine, it'll just take a bit."

Maelstrom nodded, storing the entire conversation away for further perusal at a later time. "Judging by the fact that they haven't attacked us yet, I'd say they're more concerned with the ritual being completed than possessing any of us. And if what I think is behind that gate is as powerful as I've been led to believe then we'll need you up and running as soon as possible."

The Man of Steel nodded. "I'll do my best."

On an unspoken agreement, the three fighters ran forward to challenge their respective opponents.

‹‹‡››

Having studied up on the many heroes and villains of this world, to this point, Maelstrom found himself respecting those who were capable of fighting even without their powers. Perhaps it was a bias born of his own origins as a shinobi but he considered those like Superman to be... Inferior. After all, what could they do when their powers were stripped away from them?

No, to the shinobi, people like Black Canary and Deathstroke were true warriors.

As far as he was concerned, the sword wielding woman standing before him stood right at the top of that totem pole with only a handful of others.

With all his research he was yet to find a weakness to this woman, no shortcut to defeating her short of overpowering her and even for him that would be no easy task.

"I see it in your eyes, young man," The apparition controlling her smirked as it twirled the blade in her hand expertly. "The understanding... I know not what powers wreath you in those flames but even then you cannot defeat me. Not in the body I wield; not with the skill I-"

Maelstrom _moved._

Having had experience fighting people with a love for hearing their own voices, the shinobi knew that the best time to attack a monologing foe was just before they completed their rants. After all, if you had let them get so far, you might as well let them finish, right?

Covering the gap between them at a faster pace than he had moved in his fight with the Flash, the shinobi attacked, seeking to begin the fight with a brain-rattling punch.

His fist did not connect.

The possessed woman, reacting on instinct alone, had shifted to the side, allowing his fist to fly past as she attempted to bury her fist in his gut.

The shinobi was up to the task, though, as he slipped his free palm between her striking fist while jabbing his elbow outward to strike her in the jaw. Once again, she attempted to twist out of the way of the strike to bring her sword to bear. It made no difference to the shinobi who simply extended his cloak out from his elbow, allowing his strike to connect while pushing him away from her.

The instant he had a bit of space, he moved again, this time going low with a sliding kick that connected instantly, tripping the woman up and allowing him room to press his attack. To her credit, the possessed woman fought back as hard as she could, turning away more than half of his attacks and lashing out with a number of strikes that would have connected were it not for him utilizing his cloak's amorphous nature to turn them aside. For those few moments, the fight was at a stalemate, both fighters giving as good as they got until, in a display of pure skill, the woman caught him with a right hook to the jaw.

Unfortunately for the possessed woman, though, her opponent was unlike anything she had ever faced, possessing a mind capable of pulling ideas beyond the capacity of most others and the power to enact any of his harebrained schemes.

As such, she never saw the retaliatory knife-edge chop to the neck coming, the shinobi having used his seeming 'stagger' to conceal the strike.

The resultant split-second loss of muscle control proved costly as Maelstrom shifted into a tighter stance than his preferred _Flowing Fist_ stance and struck at her with a series of pin-point strikes designed to compound the moment of paralysis.

" _Maelstrom can you hear me?"_

' _Little busy right now.'_ He grunted, keeping up his attack.

" _Superman wants to talk to you. I'm patching him through now."_

" _Maelstrom can you hear me?"_

' _Clearly.'_

" _Good. Get her to kneel and grab the lasso. I'm on my way to help you subdue her."_

The command seemed oddly worded to the shinobi, something else that he planned on dissecting at a more convenient time. In the heat of the moment, though, he chose to defer to the Kryptonian's commands.

Dropping low, he kicked out at her left knee, forcing her to drop onto that knee, before grabbing the lasso looped at her waist with a yank. Not even a second later, Superman crashed into the sand about two feet away and limped over to join him.

"Here. It'll be back in control of her body in a few moments." The shinobi warned as he handed the Lasso over.

" **She** will be in control in a few moments." The Man of Steel replied assertively as he walked up to the snarling woman and bound her with a few lengths of the Lasso, leaving enough slack for him to keep a firm grip of. "Who are you?"

Grunting and growling, the possessed woman refused to answer, drawing a frown onto the two men's faces.

"The Lasso compels you, devil!" Superman snarled angrily as the Lasso began to glow with a golden hue.

The instant the light of the Lasso reached the bound woman, she doubled over and screamed as though in terrible pain, the four pairs of eyes widened in agony. "Let me go you alien filth! She never loved you!" Suddenly, her features returned to normal. "You sicken me! I never loved you! I never cared!"

For an instant, the shinobi saw a flicker of doubt cross the Man of Steel's features and the hue of the Lasso dimmed noticeably, only to be chased away by fierce determination. "I asked a question and the Lasso demands the Truth."

The Lasso lit up with the surge of determination from the Kryptonian and the possessed woman's screams and frenzied thrashing grew animalistic.

"I… am Corruption…" The possessed woman's growls were almost indistinguishable from her screams as the apparition fought against the Lasso's power yet, even as the screams grew, Maelstrom noticed the gradual lightening of her skin tone, her human features seemingly clawing their way back over her skin. "I… am… I… am… **Diana of Themyscira!** "

The woman's yell took on a ghastly screeching tone as the last of the apparition's features were chased away from her skin and the apparition itself coiled violently in the air until it dissipated.

"Is she okay?" The shinobi asked as he watched Superman gently cradle her in his arms.

"Ungh… My head is sore and my body will be bruised but I will be fine." Wonder Woman replied tiredly, lifting a hand to caress the Kryptonian's cheek. "Thank you. Both of you."

Though she had addressed the two of them, the shinobi knew that her focus was on only one person at the moment so he returned to the rest of the team, deactivating the cloak as he moved so that by the time he appeared before them, all traces were gone.

‹‹‡››

"Maelstrom, we got here as soon as we could." Aqualad stated the instant the shinobi reappeared before their, now much larger, group. "As I was just telling Black Canary, the human elements of the ambush we pursued were able to get away somehow though evidence we gathered at their last known location points toward the fact that they belong to a ritualistic sect."

"The Cult of Blood." Canary spat disgustedly. "A group of idiot sheep following the teachings of their leader, a charlatan going by the name 'Brother Blood'."

"A _powerful_ charlatan," Green Arrow added, though he sounded just as annoyed as she, "leading a flock of _powerful_ sheep."

"We'll look into him after all this." The shinobi stated decisively, turning his attention to the rest of their group who were standing around their injured teammates. "How are they?"

"As you already know Superman is up and about; I'd say that he's somewhere around sixty percent recovered." Canary reported. "Neither of the Speedsters are up and going yet but the Flash assures us that he'll be ready in about five minutes. He's uncertain about Kid Flash."

"And Batman?"

The two Leaguers exchanged slightly sheepish glances. "He's… well let's just say that he's gonna be sleeping off a heavy dose of sedatives." Green Arrow answered. "He'll likely be out of it for the duration of this fight."

Maelstrom wasn't surprised that it had taken such measures for him to be put down. From all the information he had gathered on the heroes, the Dark Knight was definitely not an easy opponent to go up against. "Aqualad, please call Zatara; we need him to give us everything he knows about this Trigon." The Atlantean nodded and quickly walked away. "Meanwhile, I've been meaning to ask; where are Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter?"

"Right now? They could be anywhere on Earth." The Green Arrow replied with a slight shrug before explaining further. "Following this whole 'Kiddies World' split thing, we reached out to as many associates of ours as we could, pooling resources and trying to mitigate the effects of the whole thing on the rest of the world."

Black Canary continued; "When Zatara gave us this location, they chose to stay behind to organize rescue efforts in whatever way they could while generally just keeping the peace."

"You require my presence?" Zatara spoke as Aqualad returned with the magic-user.

"We need everything you know about Trigon." Maelstrom stated frankly. "In order to defeat him, we'll need a plan and we can't do that without a decent scope of his abilities."

"Trigon's abilities… My friend, Trigon is an embodiment of evil given great power. The records I have tell of his ability to control demons, unleash blasts of power from his body, grant powers to those that desire it; he imbibes souls and can transform matter on a colossal scale." The _Homo Magi_ shook his head tiredly. "There is a reason why no child of his has never been allowed to grow old."

The last comment drew the attention of them all though Maelstrom seemed to understand.

"It is an act I neither commit nor condone." Zatara explained. "Yet I cannot claim that I do not understand why the _Magi_ who choose to do so make that choice; I have been to the broken shards Trigon leaves when he finishes with a world. The term 'husk' barely begins to describe it."

"But to kill a _child_ …" Aqualad muttered, his distaste for the notion plainly visible on his dark features.

"Raven showed Maelstrom and I what Trigon did to her mother's home…" Shard said quietly. "Like Master Zatara said, husk wouldn't describe it; Nature itself was left in tatters… it will take _millenia_ before even a blade of grass can spring up on what's left of that world."

The quiet yet profound amount of silence in the white-haired princess' recollection forced Black Canary and the Green Arrow to think things over.

"We can't dwell on those thoughts." Maelstrom finally spoke up. "The fact remains that, due to the structure of the rift gate, he's already on his way. We need to stop him."

Zatara stared at the young man. "I take it that you already have a plan?"

"The barest beginnings of one, yes." The shinobi grimaced. "Raven… the young girl up there," he gestured at the rift gate, "was able to bind Trigon before making her way out of his realm. I'm pinning my hopes on her being able to do it again… In the meantime, we need to move Batman and K.F to a safer spot. This place is about to become a war zone…"

‹‹‡››

While the effects of the rift gate's activation were limited to mere miles around the giant mechanism, the whole world felt the effects of its opening.

Surging outward like an omnidirectional tidal wave, the twisted, evil, power of Trigon's hellish realm affected all that it touched; landmasses heaved, water bodies roiled, air currents violently rebelled, dying plants and animals simply withered…

And humans?

The lucky ones, those with weak hearts and failing organs simply passed… The stronger ones suffered… nausea, severe vertigo, splitting headaches.

For the heroes facing the coming storm, even beneath Zatara's most powerful barrier spell, the effects were felt by all.

And then, as abruptly as it had begun, the aura of evil simply dissipated.

Maelstrom rose up unsteadily, though his eyes were locked on to Raven's levitating figure, as he mentally suppressed the shudders that ran up his spine. The last time he had felt such concentrated evil was when the Jūbi first appeared.

The runes on the rift gate abruptly stopped glowing just a yawning black vortex appeared, the metallic structure of the rift gate forming its boundaries, and a powerful suction dragged all in its wake into the rift.

A second later, Raven began to fall.

She hadn't dropped half a foot when Maelstrom caught her and gently laid her on the desert floor, a few flickering gold flames tracing his path through the air.

"Raven? Are you alright Rae?"

He could feel her heartbeat -steady- and her pulse -strong- and so he wasn't particularly worried about her physical health. He was worried about her emotional health and, when he saw the tear slide down her cheek, he knew that his worries were spot on.

"I'm sorry." She was crying now, curled into herself and repeating the words like a mantra as racking sobs shook her body.

It took him a few moments to calm her down and get her to look at him. He could see, past the fear and guilt, the wonder in her eyes at his golden appearance and he remembered that she hadn't seen him in that form.

No matter; she recognized him either way. "Raven this isn't your fault."

She turned away from him as the guilt surged back up, overwhelming her. "Naruto…"

"It isn't." The shinobi replied firmly. "We all got played, Rae, you, me, the team… honestly, if we really want to blame someone then we might as well blame the League for not keeping tabs on their villains or on Doctor Fate for not being here to occupy Klarion." Maelstrom shook his head. "No, Rae, you did the best you could with the hand you were dealt. I don't blame you in any way and I sincerely doubt that the rest of the team does either." The shinobi then crouched and stuck a hand out to her. "But right here, right now, we need you, Rae."

She slowly placed her hand in his, almost like she feared that his outstretched arm was an illusion that would fade away the instant she touched it, and the moment she was certain that he was real, she grabbed him tightly.

"What… why do you need me?" The self-recrimination in her eyes made him want to hide her away from the coming battle but he knew how pivotal she would be to them.

He couldn't -wouldn't- let her doubt herself.

"Rae, look at me." He gently held her and turned her face until she was staring into his eyes. "On your own, at a time when you were less skilled and he was much more powerful, you were able to imprison Trigon, to lock him away so tightly that he couldn't make a move against you. _You_ did that, Rae, and you _can_ do it again. And this time, you'll have back up.

"I know going up against him terrifies you but you've defied him once before and he couldn't do anything to stop you. You succeeded where so many have failed and trust me, I spent a bit of time talking to the League's number one magic user. Zatara swears that what you did, and doing it all on your own on top of that, should have been impossible yet you did it.

"I have faith in you, Rae. I need you to have faith in yourself."

The conflicted look in her eyes lasted all of two seconds before being replaced by the foundations of belief.

In his words, yes, but more so belief in her own self.

‹‹‡››

After hearing so much about the enemy they were to go up against, Black Canary found herself feeling slightly underwhelmed by the figure that stepped out of the black portal.

Barefooted and covered in tattered grey pants and a threadbare brown shirt, he looked like the stereotypical Latino playboy; bronzed skin, thick black hair, a tall and well muscled frame.

And then, _he opened his eyes._

Like a bonfire on a windy night, his eyes burned balefully, raking over them like hot coals, measuring them and finding them wanting.

"This is my welcome party, daughter?" He rumbled and the heroine could have sworn that she had felt the sands tremble. "Children, adults dressed as children, a tin can and a glowing match?" The demon chuckled, the fires in his eyes flickering with mirth. "Perhaps you've mistaken our relationship in my absence daughter. Let me correct that misnomer."

Silence.

The sand Maelstrom stood with the young girl held protectively in his arms simply exploded into a dust cloud.

"Ha?" Trigon stood stock still before raising his slightly smoking fist before his eyes. "Looks like that matchstick of yours might be something more, _little bird_."

A few feet away, Maelstrom gently set Raven down, having carried her -bridal-style- away from her father's attack.

"Remember the plan." He whispered to her before turning to the ragged looking being. "So you're Trigon. Huh. You don't seem like much."

For the second time within a minute, in Canary's vision, Trigon disappeared. This time, however, Maelstrom did as well and only the trail of dancing orange flames, flickering crimson energy and kicked up sand marked their paths.

Canary, in a moment of fear, found herself praying for her shinobi friend before her rational mind kicked in.

Sharing a glance with Raven, Zatara, Cyborg, Green Arrow and Aqualad, she nodded.

Maelstrom was doing his part. it was time for them to do their part.

‹‹‡››

To Maelstrom, the moment he had engaged Trigon in battle, rest of the world had been reduced to a single point in the distance; a shining star on a dark horizon.

Trigon was in the here and now and the demon demanded **all** of his attention.

Unlike the Flash (who wasn't a warrior anyway) and the possessed Wonder Woman (whose combat skills were dampened by the forced takeover), Trigon was a warrior that was fully in control of himself and, though likely that he wasn't at full power just yet, all of his skills had most definitely not left him. Every strike, every punch, every kick, was aimed to cripple and that was not even factoring in the dark energy he released with every attack.

The shinobi was confident in his own powers yet even he had to admit that, for Trigon to be so powerful right off the bat then his power level at its peak…

Without a word, the shinobi ducked an incoming right hook and twisted around the follow-up palm to the jaw, before connecting with a powerful kick to the midsection that sent Trigon blasting back, giving him time to disengage from the fight.

' _He's really good.'_ The shinobi reported over the mind link. _'Wonder Woman, we need to stick together, keep the pressure on him.'_

' _Our fighting styles…'_ Wonder Woman started.

' _You lead, I'll adapt.'_ He cut her off brusquely. _'Superman, get ready; the moment you see him out in the open you ram that bastard in the mug with everything you've got!'_

A part of the Man of Steel felt a tad annoyed by the fact that it was Maelstrom that was giving the order but for the greater good… _'Got it.'_

While they communicated via Miss Martian's link, Trigon was getting back to his feet. "I'm impressed, matchstick. You're not half bad."

"You're not too bad yourself." The shinobi shrugged lazily, though his every muscle was prepared for battle.

"You're the one giving my daughter false hope then?" The demon warlord chuckled as the dark energies in his hands elongated and reformed themselves into obsidian hued scimitars. "The one filling her head with lies?"

"Lies?" His sensory sphere had locked on to everyone present so he could feel Wonder Woman sidle up toward him before she stood by his side. "I'm afraid I don't understand you."

"I can feel Raven's emotions solidifying, her conviction grows stronger and her belief that you will defeat me clouds her mind as she runs from the truth." Trigon's grin turns savage. "She is **my** daughter, my blood. My nature flows within her and as much as she seeks to deny it, she _will_ succumb to my desires. Her opening the gate today was just the first step."

"She will **never** become like you, demon!" Wonder Woman yelled as she dove toward him, her blade carving a trail through the sands, Maelstrom just a few steps behind.

‹‹‡››

 **Trigon's Realm**

"You know, when I suggested a vacation," Green Arrow grunted as he jumped off one of the winged, serpent-like demons on to another just seconds before the freeze arrow he had stuck between the beast's wings blew up, dragging down to collide with a few more of its kind. "I really didn't think you'd be up for this kind of thing."

"What's not to like?" The heroine shouted across from her own winged carrier, cutting herself off to unleash another Cry that sent the horde she had targeted tumbling, whatever brains they had utterly scrambled. "Tan-worthy temps, an exercise routine better than any spa, scenic environment…"

"Huge ass creatures baying for our blood?" Cyborg yelled back, every bit of processing power he had diverted to tracking the demons ahead, all available weaponry programmed to cut a swathe through for Raven and the rest of the team to head straight for the shattered cell block. "If this is your idea of a vacation then I'd _hate_ to see what you think is an actual work day!"

"Trust me, you do not wanna see that!" Green Arrow added as he fired off another barrage of arrows.

" _Dnib meht ni sniahc!"_ Zatara intoned, entombing all the stragglers within his line of sight in steel chains. "I'm uncertain why you feel the need to engage in casual conversation at such a time."

Further down, the rest of the group battled their way onward, Shazam in the lead taking out whatever rabble remained after Cyborg's assault.

"Artemis, cover Troia!" Aqualad ordered as he sliced a demon in half before kicking another away. "Superboy, back up Raven and Robin! Shard-"

"On you, got it!" The princess yelled back as she tore through another horde.

"This is getting old fast!" Artemis grunted as she jumped over a demon and tagged it with an explosive arrowhead. "We're getting bogged!"

"Give me a moment!" Troia yelled out before rocketing upward, battling her way past even greater hordes.

"Troia! Where are you-? Ugh!" Artemis snarled, kicking away another demon and firing an explosive arrow into the mix. "Fuck! I'm out of explosive arrows!"

Just then, Troia flashed past in a blur just moments before an earthshaking rumble nearly shook the grounded heroes. Seconds later, a portion of the bridge they had fought past collapsed.

"That should stall grounded reinforcements!" the Amazon yelled as she dived up to continue fighting.

Aqualad grunted. "Raven! Head forward with Shazam! Troia, regroup with them and punch your way forward! Everyone else, form up on Shard and I, we'll draw attention while making our way to them!"

"On it!"

"We need to hurry!" Robin shouted. "Not that I lack faith but the longer it takes us, the greater the chances of Trigon ripping our world apart."

The youngest warrior's words rang true to everyone over their comms and spurred them to fight harder.

‹‹‡››

 **The Desert**

Maelstrom ducked beneath a slashing scimitar and countered with a stab of his short staff that was immediately blocked by Trigon's second scimitar. Sensing Wonder Woman's presence incoming, the shinobi ducked her incoming swing, taking one of Trigon's weapons with him. The demon simply stepped back, avoiding the swing before stepping forward with a savage headbutt that threw the Amazon back. Maelstrom didn't waste a second, extending a chakra arm from his back to send the demon flying while he grabbed Wonder Woman and got the hell out of dodge.

Not even a second later, Superman landed his punch.

' _Miss Martian, get ready. If everything Zatara told us is accurate, things are about to get worse. Flash, I hope your tank is full.'_

' _Ready to go.'_ The Flash assured.

' _Good. Then- UGH!'_ The shinobi grunted as he was forced to dive out of the way as Superman came crashing down. _'Superman!'_

' _I'm fine!'_ The Man of Steel grunted as he sat up. _'Damn he hits hard.'_

' _I know.'_ Wonder Woman agreed, eyes locked onto the dust cloud he had just been hurled through. _'He's getting up again.'_

"You are quite impressive, Matchstick." Trigon rumbled as he stepped out of the dust cloud, his shirt utterly gone and the pants reduced to little more than shorts. His body was covered in a number of thin lines and bruises at the spots Wonder Woman and Maelstrom had connected yet, even as they watched, the wounds sealed shut. "And your woman too. I haven't been hit quite so many times in close combat."

"Ah, those were just scratches. You're already healed up and everything."

"Just getting ready for the next round." The blades in the demon's hands were replaced by the dark energy orbs from the first round against the shinobi. "You're good at close combat, let's see how you fare at… ranged attacks."

' _Move!'_ Maelstrom dived out of the way of a beam of dark energy, his fingers already weaving through the seals for his counter. "Raiton: Rasen Boruto!"

Twin beams of lightning shot out of his hands, twisting into a helix an instant before barreling into the spot Trigon had been moments before as huge rocks Miss Martian had dug up from beneath the sands rained down on the demon.

Trigon's laughter rang out as he dodged and returned fire at the group of heroes. "I knew you wouldn't disappoint me."

"Shoton: Shuriken Ranbu!" A host of deep orange crystal shuriken burst out of the ground, their trajectories carrying them toward the demon warlord. "Katon: Rasen Endan!"

A wall of metal shot out of the ground, intercepting the crystal weapons while a beam of energy ruptured the fireball. "You realize that I know just what you're attempting, yes?"

"No idea what you're talking about." The shinobi growled as his attempt to pin the demon via gravity manipulation was -somehow- foiled yet again. "Raiton: Tengoku Jūsei!"

"Oh really?" Trigon spun round and slapped the SUV-sized ball of lightning into the distance while harrying Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash with multiple, rapid-fire energy blasts. "So you're not trying to hold my attention while my wayward daughter and your friends try to salvage the wreckage of my old cell block?"

"Tch, fuck you! Doton: Ganban Hogosha!" A thick slab of rocky plates shot up in front of Miss Martian, intercepting Trigon's energy blasts and giving the girl more ammunition to send back to the demon. "Katon: Kaikaku Shinto!" The shinobi sucked in a deep breath then fired out a baseball-sized fireball that crossed the distance to Trigon at hyper-sonic speeds.

"Told-" Trigon's next words were cut off as the fireball he had just dodged exploded behind his head.

"Finally!" Maelstrom yelled as he clenched his fist and yanked downward. "Banshō Tennin!" The forces of gravity bent to his will and dragged the demon warlord to the ground. "Fūton: Assakūki Rou!" The winds answered his call, creating a violently spinning sphere of air that trapped the demon within and turned its confines into a vacuum.

"Depriving me of air?" Trigon laughed deeply as a second pair of eyes opened above the first and his skin deepened to a dark crimson. "You forget that I am not **human!** "

An explosion of power ruptured the sphere, throwing the heroes back a couple of feet and blowing up a dust cloud.

' _Everyone okay?'_ Maelstrom asked the instant he regained his footing.

' _Ugh… guys…'_ The Flash called out, his tone implying terrified awe.

' _Great Hera…'_ Wonder Woman's eyes bulged as she watched the shadow within the cloud grow to tremendous proportions.

Deafening laughter boomed out as a pair of horns jutted out of the cloud. " **You see it now? You see the futility of challenging me? You will fail, my daughter will fail and this world will fall!"**

' _I can definitely see why Zatara's fellows felt keeping him out at all costs was a priority.'_ Maelstrom growled. _'I'll keep him busy, you guys hit whenever you see an open spot.'_

' _You'll keep him busy?'_ The Flash asked. _'How- Holy-!'_

The rest of the group were just as surprised as the Speedster when, just like Trigon had mere moments ago, the shinobi's power output surged and his cloak expanded outward, growing larger and reforming until…

A roar every bit as deafening as Trigon's laugh erupted from the giant bipedal fox that Maelstrom had become, its height topping off just below the demon's jaw.

" **Yet again you rise to the challenge, Matchstick!"** Trigon boomed as he set himself into a fighting stance, ready to do battle against the golden, nine-tailed fox.

"You'll wish I hadn't!" The shinobi swore as he directed his construct to attack.

‹‹‡››

 **Trigon's Realm**

"Hey Raven," Shazam grunted as he punched away what felt like the millionth winged demon, "how long will this binding thing be?"

"I'm not too sure!" The young magic user yelled back as she settled into a lotus posture and closed her eyes. Seconds later, she levitated off the ground, the crystal shard she had selected for her task hovering an arm's length away from her forehead. "The exact spells I'm going to use don't exactly specify time limits and I fully intend to keep dear old dad locked away for good!"

"Alright then, everyone form a perimeter and hold your lines! Fliers, give us air cover; Superboy, Shard, you're on clearance duty; if anyone is getting bogged-"

"Blow them back! Got it!" Superboy snarled from his position.

"G.A! I'm out!" Artemis cried as her hands closed on air in the spare quiver she had donned a while back.

The Emerald Archer loosed the arrow in his grip. "Hold on! Shard, cover!"

"On it!"

Assured that there would be no gap in their defense line, the hooded hero ran to join his protege, pulling out what looked like a scrunchy with two buttons on it out of a pouch. As he neared her, he pressed one of the two 'buttons' and the 'scrunchy' enlarged until it became a strap, the second 'button' becoming a quiver full of arrows.

"Courtesy of the Atom!" He yelled as he helped her unstrap the two empty quivers on her shoulder. "Express delivery by Arrow Logistics!"

"Ha-ha!" Artemis shot back sarcastically before offering a tiny smile. "Thanks!"

"It's what us mentors do!"

"Yortsed eht snomed erofeb em htiw smrots fo erif!" Zatara intoned, incinerating multiple demons with extreme prejudice. "Cyborg, two o'clock!"

The mecha-human didn't turn from his section of the sky, instead diverting his shoulder mounted cannons to deal with the threat. "I really hope Raven's spell doesn't take too long!"

‹‹‡››

 **Raven**

While the Justice League and the rest of her friends battled with physical might, Raven, while seemingly doing nothing, was engaged in a war of her own.

' **You cannot defeat me, Raven.'**

The voices were like icy wisps in her mind; the coldness of their words were constantly vying for her attention yet, the few times she had attempted to track them down and banish them from her mind, they had simply vanished… only to reappear the every time she tried to concentrate on the spells.

It had been… she had no clue how long it had been; minutes? Hours? Days? Or perhaps mere seconds had gone by, time was a liquid concept in her mind at the moment, every fiber of her being was devoted to completing the spell chain that would bind her father's totality into the tiny Azarath crystal. Spells to hold his power, spell to hold his mind, spells to _isolate_ his mind from his power, spells to keep the seductively corrupt nature of his power isolated and inert; hundreds of spells orders of magnitude more complex than her first attempt were being fitted into every crevice of the crystal's lattice, each spell reinforced by the primal power of Azarath itself.

It was a taxing job.

' **You know that these attempts will fail, daughter…'**

And the damned voices, empowered by her father's evil, made it even more difficult.

'I will get this done, guys…' She swore as she finished with one point and moved to the next. 'I swear, Naruto, I **will** finish this in time!'

‹‹‡››

 **Earth**

Maelstrom ducked beneath a swing of the warlord's fist before commanding his construct to leap, re-positioning himself from his spot between its eyes to the back of its mouth, fingers flying through handseals. "Katon: Hono Dai Kozui!" The fox roared out a deluge of white-hot flames that poured down on its opponent, the intensity of the flames blinding the rest of the shinobi's allies. Inside the fox, Maelstrom knew that his last attack would have little to no effect and was already preparing his next.

True to form, the demon leaped out of the flames, his fist cocked back for what would have been a devastating blow.

The shinobi was ready, though, and so was quickly able to direct his construct to maneuver to the left, allowing the punch to fly by harmlessly before ramming a clawed fist into Trigon's side. "Rasengan!"

The spinning blue orb exploded the instant it connected, releasing all the energy the shinobi had compressed into the wrecking-ball sized orb blasted Trigon away.

Superman, who had watched the two colossal beings struggle against one another, took the opportunity; flying at three times the speed of sound he lit into Trigon, throwing punch after punch to the titan-sized demon's chest, an unrelenting force seeking to pummel the demon into submission. He only peripherally noticed when Wonder Woman joined him, so great was his focus.

' _Everybody off him!'_ The Flash warned. _'Now!'_

The mental shout caught their attention and both heroes immediately took to the skies.

Less than a second later, the Flash, moving at hyper-sonic speed, slammed home a thunderous punch to the prone demon's body.

For a few seconds, reality itself seemed to have ground to an eerie, silent, halt.

Then, impossibly, Trigon moved.

Maelstrom reacted.

Upon noticing the demon's hand twitch, the shinobi directed his construct to dive, having it grab the heroes close to the waking demon in its gargantuan paws, roll up to its feet and jump, a bijūdama already forming in front of its muzzle. The instant the sphere hit critical mass, the shinobi fired it off, hitting the downed demon dead-center.

The resultant explosion let loose a shock wave that sent the shinobi's construct tumbling mid-air, requiring Maelstrom's direct control to prevent it from crash landing.

He turned away from the mushroom cloud to stare at a wide-eyed Miss Martian whom he had ensconced in his construct the instant he had created it. _'Is everyone alright?'_

The three heroes standing on his construct's paws replied positively, though their tones carried hints of their disbelief.

' _You're quite the powerhouse aren't you, Maelstrom?'_ The Flash thought, though the mind-link carried the thought over.

' _Let's just hope that put him down. I'm uncertain if I can go bigger than that.'_ The shinobi lied, though with justifiable reason; if he had to pull out even larger guns, the Planetary Tailed Beast Bomb Rasen Shuriken, for example, he suspected that Trigon would respond with even greater force.

They couldn't risk that happening.

' _We'll have to.'_ Superman growled angrily, seeing a shadow rise within the fog-like smoke. _'He's up again.'_

' _Yo Maelstrom, buddy,'_ The Flash called over the mind link as the shinobi waded forward, engaging the demon with his vulpine construct, trading blows with the warlord. _'If you've got any trick, now may be a good time to use them.'_

' _Didn't I just hint that I was fresh outta-ugh! Tricks!'_ The shinobi grunted as the construct staggered back from a hit, directing his construct to switch tactics and get on all fours to use its tails to attack. _'Shouldn't you guys have something? You're the one with the big targets on your chests!'_

' _He's taken what we've got and tossed it right back at us.'_ Superman added.

' _I could try to subdue him-'_

' _Absolutely not!'_ Maelstrom snapped at the girl beside him. _'I am_ _ **not**_ _taking the chance of him corrupting you somehow, Miss Em, and you'd damn well better get that into your head!'_

' _Maelstrom is right.'_ Wonder Woman agreed. _'That would be too great a risk.'_

' _How about we shove him through the gate, shut it down here and then take him out on the opposite side?'_ Flash asked.

' _Can't risk that either.'_ Wonder Woman shot down the idea. _'He's already this powerful here; how much more so when he's got the home advantage?'_

' _Plus, Zatara made it clear that a rift gate is the only way to move from his realm to this and it has to be opened on this side.'_ Maelstrom continued as he prepared another technique. _'For all we know, we may get trapped in his dimension if we toe that line.'_

' _So what do we do?'_ Superman asked.

"Raiton: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!" The fox spun around and unleashed a solid pillar of lightning into Trigon's chest. _'We put our trust in Raven.'_

‹‹‡››

 **Raven**

" _Alright girl, just two more to go."_ Raven thought to herself as she turned away from the completed points. _"Let's get this over with."_

" **Enough!"** The thunderous voice of her father blasted through her mindscape, throwing her back from the shock. **"I have permitted you time to return willfully yet you have scorned my affection! I will have no more of your insubordination!"**

She should have been terrified; for years even the _thought_ of hearing his voice darkened her soul with dread. Yet she couldn't feel the overpowering fear she once had, couldn't feel the mind-numbing terror she associated with his voice.

If anything, she felt sorely annoyed by his interruption.

With little more than a thought, she moved over to the spot she needed to be to continue her work only for a wall of raging purple flames to explode into being, obstructing her path. Trigon's voice, when he spoke, was ice. **"You are on your final warning child. Stop this pointless rebellion and return to my side or I WILL destroy these insects you call friends."**

"You'll destroy them either way." She replied evenly as she flew through the flames to continue her work. "My way, you cease to be a problem and they stay safe."

" **You will fail, Raven! You and your friends will fall!"**

"You trying to scare me or convince yourself?" She shot back, a tiny smirk pulling at her lips. "'Cause your words smack of denial to me."

" **Insolent-!"**

"Na- Maelstrom and his team kicking you about?" She pressed on even as her mind formed the final spells that would end him. "Or maybe Aqualad, Canary and the others are showing you just how ineffective your hordes are. Either way, you seem to be running scared old man."

" **You will suffer for this-!"**

"Oh I won't be suffering from anything. You on the other hand… Well, consider this payback for Azarath."

And, with that final jab, she chanted the final sequence of spells to put him away for good.

‹‹‡››

 **Earth**

' _Everyone get behind me!'_ Maelstrom shouted as he sensed a massive build up of energy in the titanic demon as he staggered from Superman and Wonder Woman's attacks.

' _We've got him on the back foot now!'_ Superman grunted as he pushed his attack. _'We can't let up now!'_

' _Get back here! Now!'_ The shinobi snapped furiously as he ran through his options, seeking a defense for the impending explosion. _'He's going to blow!'_

The Flash was the first to make it back, with Wonder Woman and Superman flying through the opening the shinobi had made in his construct's foot for them less than two seconds later. At the top, Maelstrom completed the handseals for his technique, his construct slamming its paws onto the sand as he bellowed out: "Shoton: Shoryu no Tate!" The orange crystals made their return, erupting from the ground as giant tiles that formed an even larger rectangular shield that the bipedal fox hid behind.

The world disappeared in a blinding burst of white, accompanied by a thunderous retort.

Protected from the blastwave by the crystal shield, the shinobi -mentally- wheeled on the heroes. _'We've been fighting him for over thirty minutes without putting a dent in him then suddenly we're pushing him back and that didn't seem even the_ _ **least**_ _bit suspicious to you?'_

Wonder Woman had the decency to sound bashful. _'We were getting a bit desperate.'_

' _No offense but I did not expect that from you, Wonder Woman.'_ The shinobi frowned. _'From the Flash and Superman, certainly, but not you.'_

Miss Martian's voice cut off the men's protests, her tone riddled with bemusement. _'Excuse me, is he running away?'_

The question drew their immediate attention and they turned to observe.

' _Holy… They did it!'_ Maelstrom gasped as he watched the demon run toward the rift gate. _'Raven and the others-! They- Shit! Everyone out!'_

Without waiting for their response, the shinobi deactivated the fox construct and raced toward Trigon, hands flashing through seals as he ran. "Doton: Chikyū no Sokubaku!"

The earth responded to his power, huge earthen shackles rising from the earth to entwine Trigon's feet and send the demon crashing to the ground.

' _Maelstrom! What the hell are you doing?'_ Superman shouted mentally, drawing a wince from Miss Martian as he flew to the shinobi. _'We had him on the run and you-'_

' _Saved the lives of all our teammates on the other side!'_ Maelstrom snarled back, his tone reverting to the harsh one he had gained during his time as a jōnin, as he skidded to a stop in front of the rift gate and reactivated his construct. _'Stop losing yourself in the damned moment, boy, and stick to the plan! If he gets through that gate he'll have full access to his powers and he will tear our friends apart so I advise you to get your shit together because right now we need to do everything we can to hold him off!'_

No other words were shared between the defenders; none were needed.

Ego, pride, self, none of that mattered at that moment; cautioning Maelstrom on his manners could be done late, for now, only the mission mattered.

With a bestial roar, the fox launched itself forward, closing the gap to the demon as fast as it could, and delivered a thunderous hammer strike to the back of the fallen demon, sending the warlord's body back into the sand. Within moments, the heroes joined him, striking out as hard as they could to whatever part of his body they could hit, doing their utmost to keep him down.

This was it; their best shot at ending the demon's threat relied not on them, though their attacks kept Trigon distracted, but on the efforts of a young girl…

Defying her own blood for those she now saw as her family.

‹‹‡››

 **End**

Word count pre-A/N: 10,050

A/N Word Count: 850

 **WARNING: LONG ASS A/N INCOMING**

So, in this chapter, I made a comment; ' **the Speedster could likely cover longer distances faster than he could, up close he had the advantage** '. Basically, that line says that the Flash is faster in a race from point A to point B but Naruto is faster at close ranges (basically in fights). It's actually the opposite of a Minato (tag at the destination) vs Flash scenario where Minato would likely get to the distance faster but would get pummeled by Flash in a second. It's my personal opinion on the 'who's faster' question. I won't bore you with my reasons, though, cause this A/N is gonna be long enough as it is.

Also: for the DC fans, I _did,_ in a way, nerf Wonder Woman when she went up against Naruto. I wonder if you noticed that I didn't refer to her as 'Wonder Woman' when she was possessed? Well that's because, for all intents, she wasn't. _That_ was 'corruption', the apparition in control of her body an while it did push at Naruto a little bit, it definitely wasn't as skilled as the actual Wonder Woman could be.

Regarding Zatara's barrier and Naruto simply zipping past; the barrier was designed to keep stuff _out_ , not to keep things _in,_

Now, a few review responses:

 **On the effects of the separation of worlds:** while I will most definitely deal with the mass loss of lives that has just occurred the world over, as regards Naruto 'wrecking the League's shit' over it... Not yet. Trust me, I have plans for the confrontation between Naruto and the League over the whole killing thing; I had literally just reworked a few plans before I read some of your reviews [and it felt tingly to know that I was anticipating thine desires and all], but that won't come up directly just yet. All you guys need to remember here is that cracks already exist; widening them to breaking point is all that's left.

 **On the pregnancy and infant mortality thing** : call what I did here a cop out if you will but I had already penned down the idea of _three_ worlds in order to facilitate Trigon's rising. I even gave you guys hints in the last chapter; Circe's appearance as the fifth sorcerer, Klarion's words about the team not having a 'ladies with baby bumps'... In order to set up the dimension rift gate they needed a world where there was next to no opposition so... Pregnant ladies world. Of course, many women and unborn kids would still die; the lack of medical attention mid-labor and all... And that **definitely** plays a bit of a role in upcoming events so... Best of both worlds-ish?

 **On Kaguya and the side she stayed on** : The spell, IMO, tells ages apart based on I'd say physical appearance. It would explain why Klarion stays on the kids side even though he's likely a couple hundred if not thousand years old. Kaguya's body is _physically younger._ Plus, I turned up the whole 'age limit' thing to 21 so…

 **On the tag and Klarion** : It never worked on him. Klarion's a Lord of Chaos, he wields _elemental chaos_ as a power source; that's what flows inside him. If you watched the episode, 'Misplaced', you'll see that, with a snap of his fingers, Klarion casually disintegrated the shackles Dr. Fate [Zatanna version] had placed on him. I honestly couldn't see the tag holding him down when the power of Order couldn't.

 **On Naruto feeling drained after the little medical jutsu he used on Raven** : the idea that simply because he's got both indra and asura chakras grants Naruto perfect control is a flawed one. Even if [and this is a big **if]** he had gained perfect control on his chakra before leaving home, the addition of the indra chakra would simply throw all that outta whack, forcing him to go back to the drawing board. Plus, blondie has never used medical chakra before so either way, it would still be a tremendous strain on him mentally.

 **Jutsu List**

Rasen Boruto: Spiraling Bolt

Shuriken Ranbu: Shuriken Storm Dance

Rasen Endan: Spiraling Fire Bomb

Tengoku Jusei: Heaven's Shot

Ganban Hogosha: Rock Plate Guardian

Kaikaku Shinto: Shell Impact

Assakuki Rou: Compressed Air Prison

Katon: Hono Dai Kozui: Deluge of Flames

Raiton: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō: Flying Dragon Striking Heaven Thunder Shaking Cannon

Shoton: Shoryu no Tate: Crystal Dragon's Shield

Doton: Chikyū no Sokubaku- Earth Style: Shackles of the Earth

‹‹‡››

Anything else?

I don't think so.

Now, my bed calls fug-dammit!

Please Read and Review.

The Ethereal Lord


	17. Chapter 17

_**A New Life**_

 _PS: Just saw The Death of Superman and HAD to make this edit: the Cat Grant from TDoS is the one I'm using here._

 _ **Chapter 17**_

" _It has been four days since the phenomenon scientists around the world have only been able to term 'The Split' occurred and while numbers are still coming in from across the globe, estimates put the total number of deaths caused by this event in millions. Researchers the world over have been searching feverishly for an answer but as of right now, results are not forthcoming._

" _Joining me now from National City is Kara Danvers and, my guest in the studio, professor of psychology, Doctor Hugo Strange. Kara, we'll start off with you."_

" _Thank you, Cat. Like you mentioned earlier, it has been four days since parents found themselves inexplicably separated from their children and, as was confirmed two days ago, husbands found themselves torn from the sides of their pregnant wives. In that time, the only thing that has been verified is the fact that, somehow, the world was split into three separate… planes? Let's go with that; the world was separated into three planes of existence and all of humanity was sorted onto one of the three. So, four days after the fact, we're still wondering what the heck happened and why and we have no answers; the government clearly has no idea what's going on, the individual population has no clue and, what we have come to see as humanity's last hope have not said a word."_

" _Miss Danvers, if I may."_

" _Go ahead Doctor."_

" _Thank you. Much as I know that a part of us desires to cast the blame at the feet of the Justice League, I think we should face the reality before us: it is very possible that the League had no idea of how it happened. Reports have come in that there were telecasts on both the adult and children's planes broadcast by the League and their proteges which leads me to believe that they were caught up in this as well. And that knowledge is, I believe, a major cause for the rising levels of fear seen through the major cities of the world; if the Justice League, seen by many as the world's saviors, couldn't prevent this from happening and, as far as we know, had no hand in resetting things to normal, then how does anyone know it won't happen again? How does any one know that, should this happen again, it wouldn't be a permanent setting? That is the main fear, Miss Grant, Miss Danvers, and I fear that it will not be abating any time soon…_

‹‹‡››

 **ATLANTIS**

"Argh!" Kaldur grunted as he slammed into the wall, pain lancing up his spine. He had no time to nurse the pain, though, as he was forced to roll out of the way of a sword slash that scored a gash where his head had been.

"This is the vaunted Aqualad?" His attacker scoffed as she dragged her weapon out of the wall, enjoying the wince the imagery brought to his face. "Your time on the surface has made you weak!"

The last word was uttered in a spiteful hiss as she dived toward him, swords flashing through the air.

It took every bit of skill he possessed to ward off her attacks; she fought like a whirlwind of blades, lashing out every second with either of her swords, every strike seeking his vitals. It was a testament to her own endurance that, in spite of the level of sheer ferocity, she never lost a step though he did his best to stagger her attacks.

He had just blocked an overhead swing when, out of nowhere, she snapped a kick right into his floating ribs.

For the second time in about as many minutes, he was sent flying.

"You're boring me, Kaldur'ahm." She yawned as he slowly clawed his way back to his feet. "I clearly overestimated-"

She was forced to break off her sentence when one of his water bearers was flung right at her face, prompting her to block it.

The split-second loss of focus cost her as Kaldur shot forward, snapping the whip he had created from his second water bearer ahead of him to latch on to his thrown weapon. With a single deft move, he had the bearer back in his grip and he immediately launched an attack of his own, using the length and flexibility of the whips to keep her on the back foot, much like she had done with her ferocious attacks mere moments before. He kept the onslaught up, directing the tips of his constructs to snake past her blades toward her face, forcing her to focus on the constructs to the exclusion of all else, including the rubble he had strategically strewn around the battleground after each collision into the walls around them.

Realization dawned on her the instant she stepped on one such pile of rocks just before her foot twisted, throwing her off balance.

An instant later, she slammed into a wall courtesy of a hammer strike to the abdomen before being pinned there by a water construct.

"Do you yield?"

She glared up at him, past the shimmering blue blade hovering an inch away from her throat but his eyes gave nothing away.

"Do you yield?" The last word came with the feel of the blade being pushed into her skin; not hard enough to break the skin but just enough to prove the intent.

"Fuck it." She sighed and raised her hands in surrender, letting her own water bearers fall out of her palms. "I yield."

The constructs dissipated with little more than a thought and Kaldur grabbed a hand and helped her to her feet. "Looks like I won, Holly."

"Yeah, no kidding." Holly groaned as she bent to grab her water bearers. "My back hurts! You did NOT have to smack me so hard just now."

Kaldur arched an eyebrow at his former ranking officer. "Look around, Holly; your back made only one hole in the wall, the rest are all mine- thanks to you."

The pixie-cut brunette just waved the point off dismissively. "At least you won. That's gotta take the sting off some."

Kaldur shrugged noncommittally.

"Really, though, that was one heck of a fight there." Holly commended as they walked away, activating the self-repair runes on the training ground. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know; choosing to take hits while seeding the ground for your endgame. That was a brilliant move."

"Ah… that…" Kaldur found himself scratching the back of his head in a manner reminiscent of Naruto's. "Well, it's one of the things Maelstrom had me work on; on the Team, I'm one of the more durable members so he taught me to use that along with the mindset you helped me develop- to wade into a fight seemingly without a plan while manipulating the environment such that, when the time is right, I can make a single, precise move to take out the enemy."

Holly looked impressed. "Well… I gotta say, that fits you to a tee."

"Maelstrom's pretty good at figuring out the styles that fit people." Kaldur agreed as they turned towards Holly's apartment. While she had her own home further away from the administrative block, her rank in the military meant that she had a smaller apartment in the heart of the capital, to be used during times of need. "He's been a huge help to us on the team."

"You know, Kaldur, as much as I hate the circumstances surrounding your visit, I've really enjoyed having you back here." Holly yawned as she walked into the apartment. "You really should come visiting more often."

"Perhaps _you_ should try visiting." Kaldur rejoined. "You never seem to take a vacation unless it has been forced upon you."

"Well, Mister Sun-Sand-and-Tans, every time I think of taking a little break, something comes along to screw things up." She shrugged as she ducked into the kitchenette. "Case in point being this whole 'World-Splitting' nightmare." She took a peek into her cabinets and pulled out the makings of a quick dinner as he leaned on the doorway, watching. "At least you were here to help smooth things out some."

"I suppose you might have a point…" He conceded. "Though I cannot understand why one such as the head of the Koboi family would make such inflammatory comments against the surface world, even after our king's explanation."

Holly just shrugged. "Not every one who kneels before the king likes, or even respects, him. Contrary to general belief, many of Atlantis' higher echelons; the powers behind the authorities -families like the Koboi, for example- were not pleased by the return of our king. Many of them have always been -and will always be- of the opinion that Prince Orm's stance was right: the surface world should be made subject to the might of the Deep." She stepped away from the sink and bent over to get a pot. "So, while they really can't make major moves against the king, they do their best to be irritating and Opal Koboi is the best at that." She stood up, carrying the desired object and stared at him quizzically. "How come you don't know all this?"

Kaldur looked sheepish. "I… well, I often focused more on the practical combat training with our king than the more diplomatic lessons Queen Mera tried to slip into our sessions."

Holly just shook her head and said; "That is **so** you.", prompting a laugh from the young man.

For the next couple of minutes, a comfortable silence enveloped the room; Holly's constant motion and energy as she prepared dinner was balanced out by the calm stillness Kaldur exuded as he just watched her work.

"I have a question."

Something about the statement, the abruptness of it, or perhaps the manner in which it had been delivered; a calm tone with underlying hints of self-doubt and something… more, had Holly pause midway through her chopping to turn to him.

"I'm listening…."

A pause.

Then: "Have you ever felt utterly outclassed?"

Normally, the brunette would have fired back with a witty comment along the lines of "Every time the Queen walks by" but she could sense a deeper meaning to the question; something had happened that made him doubt himself. She turned back to her chopping board. "Do you mind if I ask where the question's coming from?"

"I…" Kaldur sighed and slid down until he was seated in the doorway, his arm resting on an upraised knee and staring at something only he could see. "During my time with our king, I was privileged to have been taught by some of the best minds in Atlantis; Lady Vinyaya, Master Domovoi, you… I was schooled in the art of combat by some of the finest warriors Atlantis has ever had before I set foot on the surface. I don't believe I think too highly of myself when I say that I was a good warrior as at the time I left…"

"You're selling yourself short, Kaldur." Holly cut in. "You are one of the best warriors I've had the honor of working with and both Lady Vinyaya and the old Butler would agree."

Kaldur shrugged noncommittally. "Perhaps…"

She scraped the contents of the board into the pan and stepped back as the oil hissed. Then, she walked over and sat opposite him. "Kaldur?" He glanced at her and just exhaled, prompting her to place a hand on his arm. "Talk to me, Kaldur; I can't help if I don't know what's going on inside."

He held the contact with her eyes for a few seconds before turning away, though not before she caught a flash of shame in his eyes. "For the past few months, as Maelstrom and Shard have worked with us on the Team, I've been feeling stronger and stronger than ever, my skills feel more refined and, in some part of me, I've felt that, by proving myself, I have risen to the challenge of leading the Team. But when Miss Martian shared her memories of the battle against Trigon with us… Watching Maelstrom battle a threat like Trigon, watching him take charge of the situation in the presence of heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman…"

"It makes you feel like you haven't taken a single step from where you were at the beginning." Holly stated quietly. "No, it's worse than that; watching someone whom you felt you were getting closer and closer to in terms of skill suddenly reveal the actual chasm between the two of you… It makes you feel like you've _regressed_ ; like you have only stumbled around blindly, losing what little skill you had while they progressed…"

Neither spoke for a few moments, the only noticeable sound in the room coming from the pan.

"When I started out with the LEP -Law Enforcement Patrol, from before the Merger-, I went in with laser-like focus; I was the first female Patrol officer in forever and I had the pressure of the Depths around my shoulders. Everyone wanted me to perform well except the vast majority that **didn't.** By the time the Merger came around and I joined the First Contact Squad, I felt like I'd done it; like I'd ridden the beast and come down smiling.

"Then the de Fole incident occurred and I was… well, the de Fole thing nearly broke me." She sucked in a deep breath and then exhaled through her teeth. "It wasn't meeting with that hunter child or being kidnapped by that annoying off-worlder or even the subsequent events that followed that cut me; it was the fact that Commander Root, the old man we'd always place bets on when his bad habits would catch up with him behind his back, a man I thought was a relic of FCS' past and a burden on our future, was the one to come pull my ass out of the fire. It was the fact that, watching him do his damnedest to succeed even then, years past his prime and to come out of it strongly… 'If he's so good _**now**_ , just how good was he in his prime?' For close to a month I was just there… stuck on that thought."

Kaldur was entranced. He had known Holly, personally, for more than four years and had known _about_ her for decades; her meteoric rise through the FCS ranks, her exploits, her friendly rivalry with Commander Kelp… The only black mark in her otherwise spotless record was the de Fole incident and, according to official records, she had done the best she could in a bad situation. He had never heard of this Commander Root before, not had he thought that one of the heroes of present-day Atlantis would have been struck down by such a gripping doubt. "How…"

"How did I get out of my funk?" Holly smiled ruefully. "Well, Commander Root yelled me into a private training ground, proceeded to kick my ass six ways to Sunday."

"He beat you?"

"Oh yeah. Pretty nasty beat down too; should have a scar or two from that fight." The memory brought a wistful smile to her face. "Then, when I was too tired to move and on the verge of giving up, he propped me up on a wall, squatted, looked me in the eyes and asked; 'how're you gonna prove that you're better than me if you quit now?' And, with that said, he left me there, bloody and bruised and my ego in ruins.

"That was it; as far as I was concerned, I was through. So, I spent the night compiling a pile of excuses and fitted them into a decently written resignation letter. First thing the next morning, I was ready to hand it over to Root."

"What happened?"

Holly smiled. "What happened? Well, old Julius marches right into his office, sees me standing by the door and just grunts: 'you're here. Good. Drop that resignation letter and get outta here; you've cost us too much negative attention recently.' And I'm standing there wondering 'what the fuck?!' And then, out of nowhere, I hear myself challenging him; I'll only resign if, after one more year on the force, I can't wipe the floor with him."

"I'm guessing that you won?"

This time, the brunette snorted. "Yeah, right… More like he took me back to school again; old man probably died with a number of skills locked in that noggin of his."

This left Kaldur bewildered. "But then… why…?"

"Well, first off, the second time we fought, it was much closer than the first time." She explained, understanding the reason for his confusion. "Second… Well, I guess you could say that I grew up that year, became much more mature, mentally speaking.

"The thing is, during that year, I was determined to become better than him while he, as I thought then, wanted me gone. I was either given the shittiest of shit jobs or the toughest of tasks; sometimes, he'd hide the second in the first. It was only years later that I realized what the Commander had done for me; he had broken me down as far as I could go and, seeing as how my shattered pride still wouldn't let me give in, he was building me back up to be… better…" She glanced at him, saw the intense focus in his eyes, and knew that he was on the verge of understanding. "The thing with feeling outclassed is… It happens. You'll always meet someone who's better in something than you and, a lot of times, they're so much better that it's not even funny. At that point, you have two options: get so bogged down in throwing a pity party and feeling so useless that you forget why you wanted to get better or you can force yourself to go on; to keep practicing, keep getting better even if it seems on some days like you're not making any progress at all. What ever you choose, you just need to remember something: even if your target keeps getting better, if you keep trying, the gap will never grow larger than it already is. Better that than to let your target get so far away that you lose sight of even _**that**_ , you know?"

Though he didn't say anything, Holly had the distinct impression that he understood and that, as far as she was concerned, was enough.

Then, the smell of burning shrimp caught her attention.

"My dinner!"

‹‹‡››

 **STAR CITY**

The Black Canary let out a groan of bliss as she bent over backwards, savoring the pops her spine made, before straightening up. "Whoo… Nothing like laying a good thumping down on a few idiots to relax…" She twisted her neck as far as it would go, releasing another set of pops then turned to the alcove behind her. "Don't you think so, Maelstrom?"

"So you _were_ waiting till you were done to call me out." The shinobi said as he seemingly melted out of the shadows. Though his hair was black as night, he was not in his Maelstrom attire. Instead, he wore a pair of stone-washed gray jeans, an off white shirt and a black trench coat with the collar pulled up to mask the lower half of his face. The only part of him that wasn't taken off a drab palette was his eyes; they were their usual blue. "I was afraid that you'd slipped up with how tense you were."

Black Canary watched him carefully as he approached; following Raven's completion of Trigon's prison and the subsequent sealing away of the warlord, the shinobi had collapsed as a result of him using his powers at such a high level of combat for an extended period of time, Shard had explained before they left. Now, four days later, he seemed to have recovered fully as she could observe no visible traits of weakness or fatigue in his motions but she decided to ask for confirmation. "How are you feeling now?"

"Back to normal, pretty much." He shrugged, though he had a slight smile on. "Shard told me that you visited while I was out of it. Thanks for that."

"Hey, it's the least I could do for one of my brats." She laughed, glad that the young man she had come to think of as a friend was feeling much better. "You mind helping me secure these idiots?"

"Sure!" He grinned back, pulling a sheaf of paper tags out of his pocket. "What did they do anyway?"

Canary collected a pair of the tags and proceeded to slap them on the bodies of the two thugs closest to her. She had no reason to ask as the shinobi had already demonstrated the uses of what he called 'Warden Tags' to the team. "Ah you know… Lady's walking down the road on her own, a bunch of idiots decide they can take advantage of her, I overhear the commotion and step in… Pretty routine actually."

"She called the police?"

"Almost certainly." Canary replied as she slapped a tag on another while he got the last two. "Like I said, this is pretty routine." She then stood arms akimbo and turned to him. "So, why are you out here tonight? Pretty sure you didn't just drop by to check on me, did you?"

"We'll talk. But first, let's get out of here before the police show up." Maelstrom replied, his tone setting off a few of Canary's mental alarms though she didn't say anything about it there. Instead, the two cut through an adjoining alley to come out in a secluded space about ten meters from where the thugs were tied up. From their new location, Canary gestured at a rickety looking ladder and said, "Trust me, it's more reliable than it looks," before scaling it to the top. Down blow, the shinobi stared at the ladder, glanced around, and took off at a flat sprint right up the wall next to the ladder.

"Jeez, don't you trust me?"

He glanced at the woman who was now sitting on the edge of the roof, right by the ladder before glancing back at the offending piece of metal. He shivered. "I trust **you**. The ladder? Not so much."

"I think you're just being a scaredy-cat. I use this baby-" She patted the ladder fondly, "-on most of my runs and it has never failed me."

"That just means it likes you." He rejoined. After a moment, he decided to, tentatively, place a hand on the ladder only for it to release a tortured screech that had him hastily pulling his hand back. "See?! If I'd risked it, I'd probably just be a splat on the ground!"

The Canary arched an eyebrow at him before bursting into laughter. "I should tell Batman about this; the great Maelstrom, the guy who pretty much held Trigon off to a standstill, is afraid of rusty ladders."

"If he's anywhere near as intelligent as people make him out to be then he would be too."

Though he sounded as lighthearted as she did, Canary felt there was something just a tad off about the way the statement had been phrased. "So, you were going to tell me why you're out here and not relaxing in bed…?"

"Yeah, about that," He tapped a finger on the space about halfway between them and, abruptly, all the sounds of the city's nightlife simply died away. Noting the questioning look on her face, the shinobi sighed. "It's a localized silencing seal. Prevents most sounds from entering or exiting the silencing field."

"Seems pretty impressive."

He just shrugged. "Some of my contacts reached out to me with intel that leads to some pretty disturbing news: Someone's preparing for a high end offensive."

That wiped away all traces of humor from her mind. "I'm listening."

"Remember that moment when Trigon first showed up? The feeling of death that accompanied it?" When she nodded, he continued, "It's been hushed up real fast, but according to one of my guys, a number of Belle Reve's non-enhanced inmates were declared dead as a result of that… whatever it was. Conveniently enough, all the dead inmates had no known family members or associates."

Canary connected the dots immediately and nodded for him to move on.

"Now, strange as that is, I wouldn't have bothered you if another piece of information hadn't cropped up: one of the offshore Cadmus facilities shipped in a container of, among other things, Kobra Venom."

"That's no coincidence." Canary stated factually. "They're building an army."

"The icing on the cake is the timing: the shipment arrived ten minutes before the Split occurred; my guy says that the Cadmus crew took advantage of the ensuing confusion to load the Venom onto a waiting van; by the time things had calmed down, the Venom was well on it's way to whatever distribution point they've set up."

A look of astonishment settled on the blonde heroine's features. "We suspected that the Split happened to cover something up but… this goes far beyond anything we could have thought up."

Maelstrom nodded. "They used the split to cover up the shipment of the Venom while using Trigon's unexplained presence as a cover for their foot soldiers."

"You said that they'd have a distribution point set up." Canary pointed out. "Why not just send it straight to Cadmus?"

"They know that, regardless of public opinion, the League still has eyes on them." He shrugged. "I was guessing when I said that but it would make more sense for them to keep their 'assets' away from themselves. Plausible deniability or whatever. Plus, I doubt that they'd want to strike at just one location so a distribution point is logical."

She mulled it over for a moment before agreeing that it _was_ a logical angle to think from.

"So, you gonna tell the Bat?"

Her eyes narrowed just a fraction as she heard the slightly… _off_ … way he had said that. "Do you want me to keep it from him?"

The shinobi sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. "You know, back home my mentor always warned me about having friends. 'You can't lie to save yourself, kiddo, not to those that really know you.' Guess the old man was right."

She stared at him but didn't say anything; choosing to let him continue on his own.

He did. "I'm not sure how much longer Shard and I can work with the Team."

She was _**not**_ expecting that and the surprise showed on her face.

Maelstrom continued; "It's got nothing to do with the Team; they're all amazing kids and I'm glad to be a part of their growth… it's the League we're growing tired of."

"The League…?" Canary shook her head, trying to figure out the reason and drawing blanks at each turn. "Why?"

He breathed tiredly, like he had thought over what he was about to say and felt bad that he would have to. In a way, the heroine thought to herself, he probably had. "We feel that the members of the League have lost their… I suppose _conviction_ is an adequate term."

The thought baffled and, she admitted to herself, rankled her. "I don't think I understand you, Maelstrom. Each and every one on the Justice League is as dedicated to fighting for justice as we were when we started out on our own."

The shinobi smiled sadly and shook his head. "I don't think so." He quickly raised his hands, palm outward, to get her to hold on. "Now I'm not saying you're not still fighting the good fight, Canary, because each and every one of you are doing that pretty much every day. No, what I'm saying is that a lot of you have lost sight of _why_ you became vigilantes in the first place. Because, Canary, make no mistake about it; we are all vigilantes. For all the good the League has done, no one has made the motion to allow people to take the law into their own hands."

"And for good reason." She countered immediately. "You have no idea just how many nutjobs there are, just waiting for an excuse to go on a killing spree because, in their twisted minds, they're trying to be 'heroes'." The vehemence of her own words shocked her slightly but the tiny smile on his face buried that shock under a layer of anger.

"I know people out there that use that exact same line of argument against the League, calling you public menaces that go out and assault people for no justifiable reason." He replied calmly. "Of course, that isn't true but it's an opinion." He shrugged. "But, back to my original point, I have a question, if you don't mind my asking."

"Shoot."

"Do you have any idea how many people died in the past year due to fights and other forms of confrontations between the members of the League and their respective villains? Do you know that, in the years following the advent of superheroes, city centers with heroes have suffered greater collateral damage as a result of the presence of these heroes?"

She did. Each and every time Dinah Drake walked out of her apartment into her flower shop, she overheard countless arguments against the presence of the Justice League, majority of which toed the line he had put forward.

"Let's take Gotham. The Batman is seen to be the city's Dark Knight, swooping in to stop the psychopaths that run amok right? Well, that's not how most of Gotham's citizens see him. To them, he's this guy who skulks around in the dark, fighting the same criminals _he_ introduced to their lives, engaging in a pointless cycle that involves him catching them, incarcerating them and the criminals pretty much walking out of the prisons." Though his voice never changed in pitch, Canary could feel the intensity behind his words and she knew that he believed every word he spoke. "Did you know the Joker's had the highest individual body count in the world for the past six years consecutively? Did you know that Zsasz has never been held behind bars for more than three consecutive months? Have you ever wondered how the Gotham crime families maintain their funding? Because, believe me, Canary, you're not the only one with a routine. And while Gotham may be the worst case it doesn't mean Metropolis, Central City and others are exempt from some of these things."

A morbid sort of curiosity nagged her to force the conversation back, to question him but she kept quiet, mulling over his words and, to her own surprise, finding that a large part of herself had, at some point or the other, wondered the very same things.

"So many lives have been lost because you hold back; because you force yourself to play by rules these criminals don't play by, rules they don't even _acknowledge_. Right now, hundreds of millions of people are in pain because the League didn't deal decisively enough with their rogues to give any newcomers nightmares about disturbing the peace." Maelstrom stood up and gazed and the bustling city. "I'm not asking you to kill everyone who breaks the law, hell, I don't _want_ you going down that path. But you need to think of ways to deal with the problem at the root. Build a prison on the moon or something." He shrugged. "I don't know how else to put it; the words are in my head but I don't know how to explain it…" He cocked his head, paused, then; "The police have arrived to pick up those thugs so I'll be heading home now."

"Naruto..."

He stopped just before dropping off the side of the building and turned to her.

"I'm sorry if I seemed accusing… just think about what I said okay? We'll talk later Canary."

With that said, he dropped off the building, disappearing into the shadows of the night.

‹‹‡››

 **CADMUS ANNEX**

"Dubbilex!" Kennedy barked as he strode through the upper hallways of the Cadmus facility. "God damn it! Where is that blue-"

"Kennedy." Upon hearing the voice of Sumitha Banerji, the head of security paused and turned the woman.

"Doctor Banerji, I didn't see you there."

"You wouldn't have; the way you were moving like you had fire ants in your shoes." The facility's second-in-command stepped out of the room she had occupied and walked up to him. "Is there something I should know of?"

"It's… well, it's a logistics thing.": The young man shrugged. "I haven't said a word yet 'cause I expected to have the reports waiting on your desk by now."

"What is it?"

"We've received Director Desmond's cargo; I just need Dubbilex to get some of the G-Trolls to transfer them to the service elevator and get them into the Director's workspace."

The dark skinned Indian laughed. "You definitely _should_ have seen me first; Dubbilex is working on shoring up Valor's mental defenses and smoothing out any wrinkles in the G-Gnomes initial programming."

Kennedy's eyebrows arched. "Really? And how far is he? Val, I mean."

"He's progressing much faster than we initially projected and showing no signs of exhibiting traits like the failed experiments." Sumitha's enthusiasm was almost infectious as she pulled out her data pad and, with a few taps, opened up a graph. "Valor will be Superman's equal in every way."

"And the personality issues?"

"Dubbilex has been working on them. " She answered back. "And, should he be unable to remove those flaws, Valor and I have developed a persona for him utilizes the flaws."

Kennedy flashed a lop-sided grin at the woman. "You've got everything planned out huh?"

She spread her hands in a 'what can you do?' gesture. "Cadmus takes only the best minds."

"Agreed."

"How urgently do you need Dubbilex?"

Kennedy waved her off. "Don't worry, I'll get Lila to talk with the genomorphs; they listen to her almost as much as they do Ol' Blue."

"Well," Sumitha said as she walked back to the door she had emerged from, "you wouldn't be in this situation if you'd just accept one of the little guys to help you." And then, before he could say anything, she was gone.

Kennedy smiled. "I'll get you back." Lifting a finger to his ear, he activated his comms. "Anthony?"

" **Boss! Perfect timing, I was just about to call in; the Director just called."**

Subconsciously, the Cadmus employee found himself standing a bit straighter. "Patch me in to Lila. I need to talk to her."

" **In a second boss, right now, the Director's on his way for a quick fly-by. According to Andy, the chopper crew won't even have enough time to go take a piss before they're off again."**

It didn't take a genius to understand the unspoken message; Desmond had a message he wanted to pass across, something so important that he was willing to take a detour just so he could deliver it in person.

He immediately headed right back down the hallway. "Thanks for the heads-up Tony, I'll head up to the 'pad now. Patch me through to Lila will you?"

" **Got it."**

He was just stepping into the elevator when she responded.

"Lila, I need you to head to SB2; get the genos to move the crates in the LZ over to the Director's space."

" **Got it boss."**

By the time the chopper landed, Kennedy was already awaiting the Director.

"No issues in Central City, sir?" He asked as the din from the helicopter's blades died out.

"None at all, Kennedy, the Central City installations are done." The older man exhaled. "Is my shipment in?"

"We're moving it into your workspace now, sir."

"Excellent." Desmond nodded. "Now, I'll need you to prepare the holding cells from levels four to six; we have some guests coming over."

"Guests?"

"The Board plans on moving into the next phase of business and what we're expecting will play a vital role going forward."

Kennedy brushed his hand through his hair. "I have a question." When Desmond waved him on, he continued. "These guests, are they dangerous?"

"Not to us, I've been assured. To others not aligned to our cause…"

"Understood." Kennedy nodded. "They shouldn't be problem."

"Alright then." Desmond stretched his arm for a handshake that Kennedy readily accepted. "I'll head out now, hopefully we should be done by the end of the week."

"Alright sir."

It took nearly thirty minutes for Kennedy to find himself in a spot isolated enough for him to read the little note the Director had slipped into his hand during the handshake.

"Oh boy… The boss is definitely going to want to know about **this…** "

‹‹‡››

 **JUMP CITY**

"Looks like the adjustments we made to the _Hiraishin_ worked." Shiho stated analytically, her pen out and scribbling on her ever present notepad following the disappearance of the last messenger clone. "We could stand to dim the flash upon reappearance, though."

"I'd prefer if we switched them up." Shikamaru replied as he began to look through the reports the clone had dropped off. "Take away the flash upon reappearance but leave the flash upon disappearance."

"I'd say we remove the flashes completely." Michael suggested, his voice ringing out of the kitchen. "Dad may have needed it to act as a pseudo-calling card but I don't think it plays any role here beyond calling attention to our presence."

"You bring up a good point." Shikamaru agreed, never looking up from the reports. "Nevertheless, I can understand why Boss want's us to maintain the flash, at least for the disappearing part."

Shiho shook her head and rested her hip on the edge of Shikamaru's desk. "We'd be honoring Dad by doing that."

"I get that, I really do." Michael admitted as he walked back in with a beer and two cokes. "I know we're doing a lot of this on a 'just in case' basis but we still have to consider the fact that Boss will be facing some stupidly powerful people. We shouldn't put him in danger because of what amounts to shallow sentiments; I mean, we've got the _rasengan_ to honor Dad and even using the _Hiraishin_ , modded or not, should count."

The three not-quite-human beings descended into bickering from that point, Michael arguing the benefits of completely modifying the _Hiraishin_ while Shikamaru and Shiho argued against it.

This was the scene Naruto walked in to, having teleported over to the seal in the little bungalow's sparsely decorated guest room. "I don't exactly like it…" He sighed as he crashed face-first into the beanbag beside Michael, "but Michael's right. Should we have to utilize it in direct combat, having no visible sign of its use would be an advantage."

"So…" Shiho prompted.

"Alter the seals to remove the flashes completely." Naruto affirmed bleakly, drawing concerned looks from the other three occupants of the room.

"Um…Boss?" Michael started tentatively as Shiho penned down his words. "Are you okay?"

Shikamaru, who had known why Naruto had set out in the first place, turned away from the desk and faced the sprawled form of his Boss. "You've talked to her?"

"Yup."

"It didn't go so well?"

"In a manner of speaking."

Shikamaru sighed as he rested his back on the edge of the desk, ignoring the bite of the wood. Upon noticing the blank look on Michael's face, and suspecting that Naruto was not quite ready to talk, he explained: "Boss decided to talk to Black Canary about our gradually declining trust in the Justice League."

"It's not that we don't trust the League, though we certainly don't trust the Batman," Naruto said, his voice muffled by the material of his perch. "It's that we feel like they've lost sight of their goal. Kaguya and I still talked about it a couple of hours before I set out; it's like, in their bid to gain the acceptance of the world, the League has chose to handicap themselves: they have to play by the world's rules even though the criminals they hunt don't."

"But that's not it, is it?" Shiho asked quietly. "The reason you're upset, the reason you're so torn up right now… It's not because of that."

Naruto grunted, slightly annoyed that she had picked up on that so easily. It was to be expected, though. The four of them in that room, plus the other shadow clones and… well, _mortal constructs_ he had running around, they shared a connection very few would ever understand: as different as they were in personalities and looks, they still bore a fraction of _Uzumaki Naruto_ in them. He had run from Kaguya's questions into theirs and he had no clue which was worse.

"Boss?" Michael called quietly. "We may be parts of you but we still can't read your mind."

"It's the lying." Naruto finally replied. "I don't know why but… I don't like lying to her; to Canary."

The others were stunned. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that they were not experiencing the life as he lived it but none of them had seen that coming.

"Damn it boss…"Shiho sighed, running her palm down her face. "This… this complicates things…"

"I know. I don't know _how_ it happened but I find myself wanting her approval." Naruto flipped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "It just felt odd tonight, when I was talking to her about some of the things we've uncovered… lying to her just felt so fucking wrong…"

This time, the others had nothing to say, Shikamaru turning to the desk to continue perusing the reports while Shiho drained her coke and quietly walked out.

Silence.

Then: "Alright, that's it."

Michael, following his declaration, immediately stood up and yanked Naruto up with him. Grabbing the shinobi's shoulders, the modified construct glared at the Boss. "I need your help."

"Wha-?

"I've got someone who would like to walk again and since I can't do it… Well, you interested?"

At first, Naruto wanted to decline, to do little more than sulk.

It was probably why he nodded to Michael.

He needed to clear his head.

‹‹‡››

 **UNKNOWN LOCATION**

Vandal Savage and the Queen of Bialya stood in the observation bay far above the Greenhouse, watching as Jason Woodrue, now known as the Floronic Man, got… acquainted with their enhanced plants.

"Well, Mister Woodrue certainly seems proficient."

Savage just smiled contentedly. "He is. And with Desmond's aid, the Scarecrow will have completed the installation of the pods within the next forty-eight hours."

"And the Count?"

"He's flying in tomorrow, accompanied by Teth Adam."

"Things are coming together nicely then."

"Indeed they are, your majesty." Vandal agreed, thinking over the progress Jinx had delivered regarding the hunt for Nirvana. Between Trigon's invasion attempt and the coming challenges the Justice League would face… well, they'd be too blinded to see the endgame until it was too late to be stopped.

"Indeed they are…"

‹‹‡››

 **Done.**

 **Happy New Year, everyone!**

Sorry for the delay in releasing this chapter, I got busy over the holiday period, basically not spending more than six hours at home on average so I couldn't really work on getting this out as soon as I wanted.

Now, things are slowly, inevitably coming to a head.

Naruto is feeling a bit conflicted about lying to Canary about his sources but he is definitely moving closer and closer to parting ways with the League.

Kaldur's feeling a bit cowed by Naruto's leadership ability, considering the fact that he was able to lead three of the JL's biggest names without a hitch. Luckily, he's got a friend in Holly who's experienced something similar, though not in the exact same context.

I'm open to all questions in PMs and reviews.

Please Read and Review.

The Ethereal Lord.


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